


Earning His Redemption

by Badass_Gemini



Category: Ben 10 Series
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe, Gen, Redemption, the fucking redemption arc this poor child deserves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-05-19 08:11:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 27,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5960311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Badass_Gemini/pseuds/Badass_Gemini
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Basically this is a redemption story for Albedo and how he could've become a part of the Tennyson Family.</p><p>Also, since I got a comment asking about it, Albedo is in his teen form for the purpose of this story.</p><p>This idea was prompted by a conversation I had with hisp2nic2non on tumblr and I was just really inspired by them to write this since we both felt Albedo deserved a little better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a redemption story for Albedo that won't really follow he canon verse of Omniverse and thus will be considered an Alternate Timeline or an Alternate Universe. Take it how you will, it's up to you. But it dose take place in Omniverse. Note that I don't know how frequently I'll be able to update but trust me I will do my best with it.
> 
> If you enjoy the story please leave a comment or kudos. Any kind of constructive criticism helps a lot and keeps me encouraged to continue.
> 
> Thank you.

Out of all the situations that could’ve possibly been forced upon him this one had to be one of the most embarrassing and infuriating for Albedo as of right now. What, pray tell, could he possibly be referring to? What kind of situation could merit such a title? How about being forced to sit still as his arch enemy’s MOTHER sat next to him, disinfecting and bandaging wounds he had sustained from a recent scuffle with a few thugs while he was trapped here on Earth. Albedo was currently in the middle of forcing himself not to glare at the woman next to him known as Sandra Tennyson, the very mother of his worst enemy Ben Tennyson, as she tended to his rather angry looking wounds.

“I’ve told you before ma'am, I do not require your assistance in taking care of myself. I can tend to my own wounds just fine.” It took everything in his power not to sound hostile towards the older woman. Well, she may not be older than Albedo but she was a mother, so she was old enough. He heard Sandra ‘tsk’ at him and he flinched as she dabbed another peroxide soaked cotton ball onto the open cut on his left hand.

“And I told you that I’m not going to allow that. You were practically on your knees when I found you and I’m very concerned about that leg of yours. If it’s not broken already it’s possibly on the verge of breaking, or at the very least you sprained your ankle. Now hush and let me finish bandaging your hand.” Sandra put the cotton ball to the side and picked up the roll of gauze, carefully wrapping up Albedo’s cut up hand. She hadn’t really had time to ask exactly how the boy had been injured so badly but that didn’t stop her from practically scooping him up out of the alleyway she had found him in and taking him straight back to her home. She’d been disinfecting wounds on this boy for almost twenty minutes now and it still seemed like she wasn’t even close to being done.

There was a small bout of silence between the two as the woman made her way up Albedo’s left arm, checking each bruise and cleaning out each cut. As she did that, Albedo was left to wonder how exactly he could get out of this situation. It was true what Sandra had said about his leg, it was most likely sprained but it was quite possible the bone was near its breaking point. Albedo couldn’t just walk himself out of this, he could barely even try to force his way out. As of right now, he was stuck with this woman and there really wasn’t much he could do. She made it very clear she wasn’t going to just let him leave with all his injuries still prominent.

“Don’t you find it odd that I look exactly like your son, Ben Tennyson?” The question had been flickering in the Galvan’s mind for a bit now. Sandra hadn’t said a word about it, hadn’t even mentioned it, and Albedo found that just a bit odd. “It’s not every day you suddenly stumble across a person that looks almost like a carbon copy of your own child so why exactly have you not said a word about it?”

Sandra didn’t miss a beat. “I’ve been through much stranger situations my dear. With the Tennyson Family, there’s really not much that can surprise me anymore. I mean, my son has a watch that can change him into all sorts of aliens that he uses to save the world, I have my son’s alien partner over for dinner almost every Sunday, my niece and my mother-in-law are Anodites, my father-in-law is the leader of an alien peace keeping organization that my son works for, and I have a good friend of mine who’s also apparently a very feared alien mother. Trust me, you looking like Ben is nothing new to me at all.” She continued to clean up Albedo’s arm as she spoke, never taking her eyes off her work.

Meanwhile Albedo sat there shocked. This woman was smarter to the world she lived in than she looked. He sounded astonished as he asked, “It really doesn’t bother you at all?”

Sandra just shook her head. “Not in the slightest, dear.”

Albedo just huffed and leaned against his right hand while Sandra finished wrapping up his left arm. For Albedo, it was suddenly very hard for him to believe that this woman was Ben Tennyson’s actual mother. If she was, her son had absolutely none of her traits that he had seen thus far. It was as if she and Ben Tennyson weren’t even related. How could someone like Sandra, who seemed to be selfless and extremely caring of others, have a son so careless and ignorant like Ben Tennyson? It seemed so implausible to the Galvan. “My name is Albedo, you know.” Why he was even bothering with telling her his name was a mystery. Maybe it was because he knew that at this point he was going to be stuck in this house, maybe it was just because he wanted her to stop calling him ‘dear’. Who really knew. But one thing was for sure, Albedo wasn’t going anywhere for a while.


	2. Chapter 2

Being forcefully taken care of by his enemy’s mother was one thing, but having to live in said enemy’s HOUSE? That was something that had Albedo’s mind standing on edge. Was this woman crazy? If her son came home and found him here he was done for. Hell, if ANY of the Tennyson’s friends or family that he knew of came here and saw him he was done for. He’d gotten lucky so far considering Ben was apparently out with Rook on an off world mission but as soon as the Omnitrix wielder came home and found him that was it. Albedo would surely be shipped off to Plumber base and thrown into a cell again without any questioning. Of course, Sandra had no idea that any of this would happen considering Albedo had failed to mention that he was one of her son’s worst enemies.

“You do realize you don’t have to do any of this right? You’re not gaining anything from helping me.” Albedo stated as Sandra set a plate full of freshly cooked food in front of him. It was early in the morning of his second day in the Tennyson household and so far it’s only been him and Sandra around. Carl, her husband and Ben’s father, apparently left the house during the very early hours for his job and normally came home late during the weekdays so Albedo had yet to meet him personally. Not that the Galvan really wanted to anyway.

“Nonsense. You can barely walk and none of your wounds are even close to healing, Albedo. So until then, letting you stay here is the very least I can do for you. I don’t have to gain anything to do something kind, now eat your breakfast before it gets cold.” Sandra sat down across from her guest and started eating. Honestly it was nice for her to have someone to cook breakfast for again, even if it was only going to be temporary. It’s been awhile since she’s had breakfast with anyone on the weekdays what with her son either sleeping through it or being gone and her husband having to leave so early for work. Either way, Sandra was just glad to have another person around, even if he was a little grumpy.

Albedo just let out a small huff and reluctantly did as he was told. To his surprise the food wasn’t half bad. As a matter of fact it was actually rather enjoyable, much better than the chili fries he was constantly craving. “What exactly is this Mrs. Tennyson?” His curiosity got the better of his bitter attitude for a moment as the question slipped out.

Sandra chuckled as she answered. “It’s scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, and some sausages. Usually there would be a little more than that but I haven’t had a chance to go food shopping this week. I was planning on going tomorrow but I think I might have to go later on today, that is if you’re okay being alone for an hour or two?” She was honestly reluctant to leave Albedo alone in the house but if she didn’t go food shopping now she might not have anything decent to cook for lunch or dinner. No way was she going to serve a poor meal to a guest.

Albedo looked up from his food for a moment and nodded. Maybe with her gone he might be able to sneak out and leave. “I’ll be fine on my own. I have been saying that since yesterday after all.” He finished off what was left on his plate and sat back in his chair. That was the first filling meal he’s had in a while that wasn’t chili fries. Sandra could cook, he’d have to give her that.

“You say that now but I saw you struggling trying to get up the stairs yesterday. You keep forcing your leg like that and it really will break.” Sandra picked up Albedo’s empty plate as she spoke and walked over to put the dirty dishes in the sink. “I don’t understand why you’re so reluctant to admit you need help but if that’s how you feel I won’t press you. You’re still not going anywhere until your wounds heal though, that I’m not budging on.” Albedo may be a guest but he was still a child to Sandra, and she was a mother before a host.

Albedo went a little red at the mention of his previous struggles. He had thought Sandra was gone at that time, positive he heard her go into another room and shut the door. He had no clue she had actually seen his pathetic attempt to get up her household stairs to the spare bedroom she had allowed him to use. His leg was hurt worse than he had thought and it had been hindering his ability to walk properly. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to sneak away while she was out shopping. “I wasn’t struggling, I was just having a bit more difficulty with my leg than expected.” Just because she had seen him didn’t mean he couldn’t deny the truth.

Sandra just rolled her eyes and smiled as she cleaned the dishes. “Well okay then, if that’s what you’re sticking with.” She put the last plate into the dish rack and left the room for a moment, coming back in with her purse in hand. “I’ll only be gone for an hour or two while I get groceries. Anything you’d like in particular?”

Albedo thought about her question for only a moment before shaking his head. “Nothing really. I’m not a picky eater.” At least that was true. Living the way Albedo did he couldn’t really afford to be picky with his food. He ate what he could get, even if what he could get was mostly chili fries and whatever alien food he could steal from vendors in Undertown. He watched as Sandra nodded and left the room again, this time hearing the front door open and close. Albedo waited a few minutes to make sure the woman really had gone before letting out a deep and irritated sigh. “That woman is too sickly sweet for my liking. What’s her deal anyway? Doing all of this for some stranger she barely even knows.” The Galvan looked down at his bandages and glared. “What’s her angle?”

As Albedo tried to think up some kind of alternate reason for Sandra’s kindness he had forced himself to start walking around the ground floor of the Tennyson home. No way was he going up the stairs again, at least not until he had to. There had to be something that could clue him in on why this woman was being so kind to him. Right? She must have another motive. No way was she being this nice just because she could. Painfully, Albedo limped around trying to find anything he could that would reveal some kind of plan she may have in store for him, but all he found were family photos and random Home Magazines. There was nothing that he could clearly find that would point to Sandra having some kind of ulterior motive.

With a heavy sigh, the Galvan slumped down onto the couch in the living room. Pain shot up his injured leg and Albedo winced at the feeling, he really was pushing it with all this moving around. If he didn’t let his leg rest properly Albedo knew full well that it could heal incorrectly and cause some serious permanent damage. But what was he supposed to do? He was stuck in enemy territory with his luck of not being caught wearing extremely thin as time ticked on. Sooner or later Ben Tennyson was going to come home from his off planet mission and find him here, and Albedo honestly couldn’t go anywhere. With his leg as bad as it was added with the rest of his injuries not even his other transformations could really help him out of this.

“I’m stuck here until my leg heals, there’s no avoiding it.” With another heavy sigh, Albedo reached over and grabbed the TV remote. No sense in just sitting on the couch in silence. “Might as well at least try and get comfortable in this place. At least it’s better than a Plumber prison cell.”


	3. Chapter 3

Ben Tennyson was not someone who was fond of surprises. Every time someone ‘surprised’ him with something it never lead to anything good. It’s how his fear of clowns started, it’s how he nearly broke his arm in the first grade, it’s how he nearly fell face first into solid concrete when he was eight, basically surprises were the universe’s way of telling him he’s about to eat shit. But nothing in the whole universe could have prepared him for the ‘surprise’ his mother had told him about over the phone on his way home. Apparently the Tennyson household had a temporary guest that he was just now learning about. Now, normally that wouldn’t be much of a problem, a house guest was nothing to be surprised about if you really knew Sandra Tennyson. What Ben wasn’t expecting was WHO exactly the new house guest was.

Ben’s jaw nearly hit the floor when he walked into his home only to see Albedo, who froze where he stood. Red eyes locked with green and in a split second Ben was bolting forward and tackling Albedo to the ground. “What are YOU doing in my house?! Where’s my mom? If you hurt her I swear Albedo you’re gonna-” Ben stopped when he noticed Albedo wasn’t even fighting back. Taking a closer look at his evil twin’s face he noticed all the bandages and the pained expression. “What happen-”

“Tennyson, get OFF me!” Albedo squirmed under Ben’s weight and visibly flinched when a bolt of pain shot up his leg. Ben was literally pressing into his bad leg right now and it was NOT a pretty feeling. “I didn’t do anything to your mother just get OFF my LEG!” He tried moving again but another jolt of pain had him freezing in his place.

Ben glared down at him and shifted his weight so that it wasn’t on Albedo’s leg anymore. He saw relief wash over his enemy's face before a scowl took over and the Galvan was giving him a death glare. “Where’s my mother Albedo.” Ben wasn’t asking, he was demanding. If Albedo had even so much as put a scratch on his mother he wasn’t holding back. The hell bent Galvan could do anything he wanted to Ben but his family was off limits, especially his mom.

Albedo could barely get a word out before the woman in question appeared from the kitchen. Once she took in the sight before her the calm expression she had dissolved into one of shock then quickly changed to anger. “Benjamin Kirby Tennyson you get off of that boy right this instant!” She hadn’t even taken two steps forward before Ben flew back and stood up and away from Albedo. The injured Galvan sat up and groaned as his injuries practically screamed at him to just stop moving.

“M-Mom! What’s he doing here!? He’s-”

“He’s injured and you tackling him to the ground like that isn’t helping.” Sandra send her son a warning look before helping Albedo to his feet. “You go sit on the couch Albedo. Ben, I want you in the kitchen.”

“But Mo-”

“NOW, Benjamin.”

Ben swallowed whatever words he wanted to say and silently made his way into the kitchen. He paced around the table as he waited for his mom to come back in. What on Earth was Albedo doing in his house? Was his mom nuts?! Once he saw her enter the room out of the corner of his eye Ben exploded into a flurry of questions. “Mom! Why is one of my arch enemies in the living room!? Why is he even in the house?! What even happened to him, and why does he look like he was attacked by our medicine cabinet?” When he had actually looked at Albedo he really did notice all the bandages the other had. Albedo looked worse for wear and that would’ve made some questions pop up in Ben’s head had he not walked in on the other just waltzing around IN HIS HOUSE.

Sandra still looked as if she were angry with her son as he bombarded her with his questions but in all reality she knew he had every right to act the way he was. With a small sigh she sat down at the kitchen table and motioned for Ben to do the same. Once her son sat down only then did she begin speaking. “I found Albedo beaten up in an alleyway on my way home yesterday. He could barely stand, he was littered in cuts and he had bruises the size of my hand. Ben I couldn’t just leave him out there, so I brought him home to patch him up. His wounds were pretty bad but nothing too serious, what worries me though is his leg. Ben he can barely stand on it right now and I keep telling him that if he doesn’t stop trying to walk on it he’s going to do some serious damage to it. But you tackling him to the ground certainly didn’t help either.”

As Ben listened his mind was whirling with possible tricks Albedo could be playing. His mom could possibly be in mortal danger right now. “Mom what if this is just a trap? Do you know how long this guy has be trying to kill me? I wouldn’t put it past him to pull some kind of stunt like this just to-”

“Ben,” She cut her son off before he could finish that thought. “I know you’re worried but I’m the one who bandaged up more than ten different lacerations on him. His hand was practically cut wide open and he’s been limping badly ever since he got here. His jacket was nearly torn into pieces and I had to let him borrow one of your shirts to replace his torn up and bloodied one. I don’t think this is a trick Ben. He really is hurt.” Sandra knew when someone was faking being sick or injured, Ben had pulled it all the time when he was younger and so had her nephew Ken. She knew very well that Albedo was in no way faking his injuries. “He may be an enemy of yours but I can’t just let him go anywhere with those kinds of injuries Ben. It wouldn’t be right.”

Ben desperately searched for the words to try and convince his mother that keeping Albedo in the house wasn’t a good idea, but he couldn’t think of anything that would change her mind. Most people in the Tennyson family knew that once Sandra Tennyson made up her mind it was practically set in stone. Even if Ben told her every bit of Albedo’s past the fact that the Galvan was injured as bad as she says he was meant that Sandra wasn’t going to let him out of her sight any time soon. “You know Grandpa Max is gonna argue with you on this right?”

Sandra just stood up from her seat and sighed. “I know, but he won’t change my mind. That boy needs to be taken care of, not to be put in a jail cell.” She turned to leave the kitchen but stopped at the entryway. “I have to go and do laundry, but I expect you to go apologize to Albedo for tackling him to the ground. And no ‘buts’ Ben.”

The Omnitrix wielder quick shut his mouth and watched silently as his mom left him alone in the kitchen. He let out a loud groan and slammed his head down against the kitchen table. This was so bad. This whole situation was so bad in so many different ways it wasn’t even funny. He sat there for a few more minutes before finally getting up and walking back into the living room. Albedo was still sitting on the couch, a scowl still plastered on his face. That scowl quickly changed into a glare of death the second Ben sat down on the opposite end of the couch. For a long moment the only thing that could be heard was the TV. Neither boy wanted to speak to the other for obvious reasons, but Ben was never one to stay silent for long.

“My mom wants me to apologize to you for tackling you to the ground.”

Albedo scoffed and turned his gaze back to the TV. “I’m not surprised considering to her it was almost unwarranted, but I don’t expect you to actually apologize for anything Tennyson.”

“I swear if you do anything to hurt my mom or my dad I don’t care how ‘injured’ you are I’ll toss you through a wall.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you if we’re being honest here.”

“Good, then you know not to mess with my family.” Ben’s voice was starting to show a hint of malice.

“I wouldn’t stoop that low, Tennyson. Who do you think I am? Zombozo?”

Ben turned to glare at his evil look a like and opened his mouth for a snappy retort but closed it quickly. He was not going to play into Albedo’s game this time. Oh no, he was just going to sit here and wait until his mom finished with the laundry so he could go and call Grandpa Max. Albedo wasn’t going to get under his skin that easily, or so he thought.

“Your middle name is Kirby? Really?”

“SHUT UP ALBEDO!”

This was going to be a long recovery.


	4. Chapter 4

Ben had been right the other day when he had said his Grandpa wouldn’t be happy about his mother’s decision. Almost all of the next day was nothing but a back and forth tug of war between the two Tennyson’s on whether or not Albedo would be allowed to stay in the house. Sandra had even blocked the stairway so the Plumber officers that Max had brought with him couldn’t get upstairs and take Albedo while she wasn’t looking. Ben was told to stay in the room with the injured Galvan just in case Grandpa Max tried to have someone sneak Albedo out of the spare bedroom window. Ben, of course, was not happy about this in the slightest. Both boys could hear the argument from where they were in the spare bedroom.

“You know, normally it would seem petty to say this, but this is totally all your fault.” Ben sat against the bedroom door, trying to hear as much as he could but Sandra was never one to really raise her voice so it was hard to hear what she was saying. Max on the other hand could be heard very clearly.

“Sandra he’s a wanted criminal. I’m not going to let him stay in the same house as my daughter-in-law!”

“As if I wanted to cause any of this? If your mother would’ve just let me leave I would’ve been on my way the day she found me. I like being here just as much as you like having me here but what do you want me to do? She’s stubborn and I can barely even move my leg let alone try and walk on it now. Even I can see there’s no way out of this Tennyson.” Albedo was sitting up against the headboard of the bed, a very annoyed and agitated look plastered on his face. When he woke up this morning and felt nothing but crippling pain shooting up and down his leg he knew he wasn’t going to be able to leave the bed he was in. This whole situation was starting to wear his patience thin. He was stuck in a house with his arch enemy and now the Plumbers knew exactly where he was. What was stopping Ben from disobeying his mother and just handing him off to his Grandfather? Nothing, that’s what. Albedo was just waiting for Tennyson to just get up and open that door to let the Plumber in to come and take him away to his old jail cell.

“Sandra you can’t be serious, he’s not a child! That ‘kid’ is probably older than you and me combined.” Max was starting to sound frustrated.

“Oh so now you’re going to blame my mom?” Ben shot Albedo a glare and stood up from his spot in front of the door. “You know, you’re lucky she has a big heart or else you could’ve probably been left in the alleyway for who ever beat you up. It’s not her fault you’re pretty much crippled but she’s out there right now arguing with my Grandfather just so you can stay in a bed and not in a cell. You should be grateful to her.” Who did Albedo think he was? Trying to blame his mother for _helping_ his sorry ass. Ben had half a mind to just let his Grandpa take the sorry excuse for a Galvan and let it be the end of this whole problem, but he wasn’t about to go against his mom. Sure, Albedo probably didn’t deserve the kindness his mother was giving him but Ben wasn’t about to go back on his agreement to her. He promised not to fight with her on this decision and he was going to keep that promise.

“I never said I was blaming her!” Albedo whipped his head around to glare daggers at Ben but winced when a stab of pain flared in his neck. He gently rubbed at the spot before continuing. “Your mother isn’t at fault, I’ll admit that, but do you really think she’ll win against your Grandfather? I’m expecting him to barge through that door any second now and have his officers haule me back to my cell. I don’t know why she’s even trying. Why would she even care? I’m a stranger, Tennyson. Why on Earth would she stick her neck out for someone she doesn’t know?” That was another thing that Albedo was still finding hard to believe. No way was Sandra being this nice without having some kind of underlying motive for it. “I may not be able to figure it out now but I know your mother must have some kind of ulterior motive for doing this. There’s not a single chance she’s being this kind for no reason at all.”

Ben stared at his twin for a few minutes before cocking his head to one side in confusion. “Wait, you really think my MOM has some kind of, what, other plan for taking you in and helping you? Are you- okay, you are crazy, but seriously? What you can’t believe someone can be nice just because they can?”

“No. Because that doesn’t happen. You aren’t just ‘nice’ to someone unless you A.) Have something else planned for them or B.) You want something from them, and since your mother barely knows who I am or what I’m capable of I doubt it’s the second option so I’ll be sticking with Option A. She has to have some other means for being so, _caring_.” The last word was spat out of the Galvan’s mouth, as if it was coated with a vile taste.

Ben honestly couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Albedo really thought his mother, Sandra Tennyson, was just going to use him for something? “Dude, you have some serious trust issues, my mom isn’t like that at all. She really is worried about you.” That was weird to say to one of his worst enemies but if Albedo really thought his mom was some kind of heartless manipulator Ben had to say something to get him to think otherwise.

“I highly doubt that.” Albedo wasn’t falling for it. Ben could say whatever he wanted as much as he wanted, it still wouldn’t change the Galvan’s mind. As far as he was concerned it was only a matter of time before he saw the inside of his cell, and once he heard footsteps coming up the stairs he knew he was right. “Looks like the Plumbers finally got through her, what a surprise.” Albedo was prepared to be hauled off to Plumber Base, he knew it was coming. The only thing he was going to miss was the bed really, it was much better than sleeping on a metal slab with a few thin blankets and a flat pillow. He was completely prepared to see the Magister walk through that bedroom door with officers ready to haul him away, only to see Sandra come in with a bright smile on her face.

“Well then, that takes care of that.” Sandra looked from her son to the shocked looking albino sitting on her spare bed. “Albedo you get to stay here until you’ve completely healed. Max will be sending over a doctor tomorrow to have a look at that leg of yours. Ben, your Grandfather wants you to stay home and keep watch over Albedo while he’s staying here. I tried to tell him that wasn’t really necessary but it was either that or have Plumbers stationed here around the clock. I hope that’s okay?”

Ben just nodded. He figured his Grandpa would want him to stay here so Albedo wasn’t left alone with his mom. “It’s fine, but what about Rook? Did Grandpa say what he was gonna do while I’m here?” Ben didn’t mind being home to watch over his enemy but he did have to think of his partner.

“Rook will drop by from time to time but for now he’ll be assigned a temporary partner when he goes out for patrols.” Sandra shook her head a bit, a smile still on her face. “I swear though, Rook works so hard. Maybe while you’re here he should take a break. I’m sure the Plumbers can handle things just fine without him always being out on patrol. Anyway, I’m heading down to make lunch. I’ll call you down when it’s ready.”

As his mother left, Ben turned around and leaned against the door. A smug smile on his face as he looked at his twin’s expression of utter shock. “Still think my mom has some kind of ‘underlying motive’?”

Albedo just continued to stare blankly at the door. Did that really just happen? He wasn’t going to be shipped off back to Plumber base? That woman really just came in, smiling like what she had just done was some kind of everyday thing. She convinced Max Tennyson to let him stay here with only Ben as a guard? With a quick shake of his head as if to expel his current thought process, Albedo turned his gaze to Ben. “This doesn’t prove anything Tennyson. It just means I might have a chance to escape before you try and stick me back in my jail cell. Nothing more.”

Ben just rolled his eyes and sighed. “Really? Whatever, look, I’m leaving for a second to go get some of my comic books out of my room. Lunch won’t be ready for at least another hour and I’m not going to sit in here with nothing to do. Don’t go anywhere, not that you really can.”

Ignoring Tennyson’s comment, the Galvan crossed his arms and leaned back into the headboard. Albedo refused to believe that this woman was being kind to him for no reason at all. She HAD to have a reason. There was ALWAYS a reason behind things. People just don’t do things like this for no reason.

  
Right?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a sudden and hard realization writing this chapter. Albedo was actually right.
> 
> Also, if you're enjoying the story so far comments are very much appreciated <3

Well that doctor’s visit left him feeling less that hopeful. According to the Plumber doctor Max had sent over, Albedo’s leg had a pretty severe impact fracture that he had made even worse by forcing himself to walk on it. What ever had caused his leg to fracture so bad just earned him an extended stay in the Tennyson household, and he loathed it. This was not where he wanted to be right now. Constantly under watch from Ben and always having Sandra check up on him had the Galvan feeling suffocated. The fact he couldn’t leave his bed without help didn’t make things better either.

“This is humiliating.” Albedo growled as he sat upright against the headboard. “I shouldn’t even be here right now.”

“Well then that sucks for you doesn’t it?” Ben piped up from the foot of the bed. The Omnitrix wielder was watching some TV show while ‘keeping an eye’ on Albedo. In truth, Ben was only in the room because his mother had her book club over today and he did not want to deal with that kind of attention. He’d rather listen to Albedo complain than be suffocated and embarrassed by old women. “By the way, what even happened to you anyway? Mom never told me so I can only guess you didn’t tell her.”

“It’s none of your business Tennyson.” Albedo growled out. He wasn’t about to explain his injuries to his ENEMY. “All you need to know is that I was out numbered in a highly unfair fight.”

“Since when do you ever fight fair?” Ben turned to give the Galvan a confused look. For as long as he’s known Albedo, he’s never know the other to fight fairly at all. He always had some kind of dirty trick up his sleeve.

“I don’t. Doesn’t mean I don’t know when a fight is extremely one sided. From the very start of that encounter I knew I wasn’t going to be walking away without a few cuts and bruises. I didn’t expect I would only get away by the skin of my teeth this heavily injured.” The Galvan let out a little huff of annoyance and tried to readjust himself to a more comfortable position. It was not easy when every movement seemed to cause him physical pain.

“Do you need help?” Ben may have said that in a bit more of a mocking tone than he had intended, but honestly how could he not? This kind of situation didn’t happen everyday and it was one hell of a funny sight watching the self proclaimed genius struggle to just move around slightly.

“Cork it Tennyson. I don’t need your help.” Albedo fixed himself and leaned further back onto the headboard. He was a little grateful he had extra pillows to put behind him or else this position would not nearly be as comforting. “Don’t you have friends you could go annoy instead of bothering me? Like your cousin and her less than intelligent boyfriend?”

“Nope. Gwen has college classes and I’m supposed to be watching you. It’d be really irresponsible of me if I just suddenly left you alone here. Especially when you can’t even get up to go to the bathroom by yourself.” Ben had such a smug look on his face. As worried as he was yesterday, this was actually fun. What other chance would he have to basically torture the Galvan like this without having to worry about being attacked?

“You’re enjoying my suffering aren’t you?”

“A little bit, yeah.” Ben chuckled while Albedo held up his middle finger. “Oh so you actually know what that hand gesture means? Geez Albedo you sure are picking up some nasty habits.” Okay, now Ben was just being an asshole at this point.

“The only habit I find nasty is my constant craving for chili fries, which I blame you for. Any other ‘habit’ I pick up from your planet was picked up by choice, and sadly this is the best I can do without agitating my wounds any further. I would love to throw something at you but I doubt a pillow would really cause you any harm.” Not that he really would throw something. Albedo was done forcing his body to move in ways that would obviously cause him more pain than necessary.

“Chili fries are not that bad Albedo, you need to let that go already. What has it been, almost a year since you’ve been stuck like that? It’s your own fault for trying to steal the Omnitrix.”

“It’s been over a year Tennyson.”

Ben nearly choked on air. “What?”

“It’s been OVER a year. Have you really not kept track? If my memory serves correct you were still fifteen, halfway to being sixteen, when we first met and now I believe you’re close to turning seventeen. Do the math Tennyson, it’s been well over a year.” Albedo went over the math again in his head just to be sure. If he was right it had been about a year and a half give or take a month or two, but to him it felt like a lifetime. Being stuck in a body that wasn’t his own made everything feel different, even his perception of time.

Ben just sat in stunned silence as he tried to do the math. Had it really been over a year already? How had he not realized that? It certainly didn’t feel like it had been that long. “Wow, that’s a little bit of a shock. Really doesn’t feel like it was that long ago.” He mumbled out the last part and looked down at his Omnitrix.

“Lucky you.” Albedo crossed his arms and gave Ben a sharp glare. “I can’t exactly lose track of time so easily like you can.”

Ben narrowed his gaze and looked back up at the Galvan. “Well sorry if you can’t handle the fact you messed up when you tried to recreate the Omnitrix. Why can’t you just admit that? That you made a mistake and now you’re paying for it?”

“Because I didn’t make a mistake!” Albedo snapped. His patience had just run out. “You don’t deserve to wear the most powerful weapon in the universe! You’re nothing but a reckless child and Azmuth should’ve taken the Omnitrix away from you when he had the chance! Every time I hear about you or see what you’ve done all people ever talk about is how much ‘good’ you’re doing but no one ever mentions the things you destroy! ‘Oh Ben 10 saved us from the Incursians’ well why do you think they were here in the first place! ‘He saved the planet from Vilgax’ well guess why he was here? You! Everything that’s ever put this planet and the universe in danger was all because YOU had the Omnitrix. Think about it Tennyson, your No Watch alternate? Not a single thing happened to put his planet in danger and he didn’t even know aliens existed! The only thing keeping that timeline safe was the Plumbers and guess what? They seem to have done just fine without the Omnitrix. Not to mention all the other timelines where you turned evil!” Albedo was livid and out of breath, but judging from the utter horror plastered on Ben’s face his point must’ve gotten through to some extent. “My actions seem a bit less crazy now don’t they?”

Ben didn’t say anything, still letting the weight of Albedo’s words sink in. Was that really true? Could that be true? Thinking back, Albedo had a point. The timeline where he never found the Omnitrix, that version of him had never even seen an alien before Eon and Vilgax’s attack with all the evil Bens. Nothing had threatened that timeline until that point, and there were at least four timelines where he turned evil. Five if you count Eon himself.

“You never noticed before did you?” The only answer Albedo got was a shake of Ben’s head. “Well now you’re a little less ignorant. Next time you think what I’d been trying to do for the past year and a half is ‘crazy’ remember what I just said.” Ben only gave him a silent nod and turned back around to face the TV.

Nothing else was said between the two for the rest of the day. Ben stayed eerily silent, not even bothering to look Albedo in the eye on the rare times the Galvan had to ask him for help getting up. Albedo’s words really struck something in Ben and honestly, the albino was starting to feel that maybe, he might have said too much.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooo boy was this interesting to write. Hope I got Gwen's character right here.

After his outburst the other day, Ben had yet to say a single word to Albedo, mocking or otherwise. Strangely it was actually starting to worry the Galvan and he began to think that maybe he had said a bit too much. Then again, Tennyson had pushed him when his patience was low. Ben should’ve realized that Albedo was bound to snap back, especially when he was injured and unable to do much else other than to lash out with words. Even still, a very unwelcomed and unsettling feeling was starting to bubble up in the back of Albedo’s mind.

 As much as he wanted to enjoy the fact that for the first time in days he was finally left alone, Albedo felt something was very wrong. Ben was home, but he was in his own room and not hawking over the Galvan for once. Sandra had left a bit earlier, saying something about having to go and help one of her friends. Albedo hadn’t really been paying much attention to what she had been saying, instead his mind had focused on Ben at that moment and the dull look that was cemented onto his face.

“As much as I enjoy the peace and quiet even I know it’s not like Tennyson to be silent for this long.” Albedo mumbled to himself as he absentmindedly watched the TV screen. He wasn’t really ‘watching’ anything persay, just using the device as background noise so it wasn’t so eerily quiet. “It’s like he hasn’t heard someone blame him for everything that’s gone wrong in the world before. Well, then again they never thoroughly explained why they blamed him nor did they have the knowledge I have.” The more the Galvan mumbled to himself the less he payed attention to his surroundings, which is how he failed to notice the fact his bedroom door was slowly being opened. The only reason he finally snapped out of his own thoughts was because he heard a low, continuous growl coming from the direction of the door.

Albedo’s train of thought crashed and burned as his eyes darted over to look at the door, only for them to lock with the eyes of Khyber’s old hunting dog. For a split second, Albedo thought the Huntsmen had escaped from prison and found him. That thought was quickly expelled when he remembered that Khyber had a Panuncian when the two were working together. The Anubian Baskurr staring him down and growling at him no longer belonged to the Hunter, instead the new owner of the alien dog was, “Kevin Levin.” 

“Aw, how’d you guess?” Kevin’s flat tone came from behind the door before it opened to reveal not only Kevin but Gwen as well. “Down Zed.” On Kevin’s command, Zed stopped growling and sat down but her eyes stayed trained on the Galvan.

Albedo narrowed his eyes and sighed. “And just when I thought I would finally be left alone for a day. What, have you two come to actually entertain Tennyson or did you come to laugh at the fact I’m stuck here like he’s done already?” Why had he even bothering thinking the universe would leave him in peace for a day?

“We came here because my Aunt called me saying Ben hasn’t been acting like himself for the past couple of days. We knew you were staying here so I figured we might pay you a visit to find out exactly what you did to Ben.” Gwen looked as though she was ready to fight. If Albedo had done something to her cousin she was going to find out one way or another.

“I didn’t do anything to him.” Albedo focused his gaze back onto the TV. “Last time I checked, and the last time a doctor checked, I can’t really do much of anything with the amount of injuries I have. I’ve been stuck in this bed for almost a week now.” The Galvan kept his eyes on the screen. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with these two. Apparently, they had other plans. Kevin moved and stood right in his line of view.

“And how do we know you ain’t fakin’ these so called ‘injuries’? For all me and Gwen know, you could spring an attack at any moment and try to escape.”

Albedo just glared at the raven haired man before him. “Do you really think I would fake a near broken leg just to stay HERE of all places? I WANT to leave but I physically CAN’T. I can barely move without feeling pain let alone try and attack you, not that I would waste my time trying. You aren’t even worth the trouble.” If these two thought they were going to get any kind of help from him they were sadly mistaken.

“What, you scared of us or something?” Kevin let a smug grin spread across his face. “Think we’re too much to handle?”

“Kevin don’t patronize the wanted criminal.” Gwen walked over and stood next to her boyfriend. If Kevin started an argument now they might not get anything out of the Galvan, not that she was really expecting Albedo to give them anything but it was still worth a shot. “Look Albedo, we just want to know why Ben’s so down. We’ll gladly leave you alone if you just tell us whatever you did or said to him.”

“And I’m supposed to believe that? Contrary to what you’d like to believe Gwendolyn, I’m not a fool. Go ask him for yourselves, he’s right down the hall.” Albedo crossed his arms in defiance and held Gwen’s gaze. He wasn’t going to budge that easily.

“Come on Albedo. I’m sure we can come to some kind of agreement here since you know as well as I do we’re not leaving until we get some answers. What’s it gonna take to get you to talk?” Gwen sat down at the end of the bed.

Albedo scoffed at her pitiful attempt at negotiation. Did she really think she could persuade him? “You’re persistent I’ll give you that Gwendolyn, but the only thing I want right now is to get out and away from this house. So unless you have some kind of healing ability with your Anodite powers I suggest you take yourselves down the hall to Ben’s room and try asking him. I’m sure he’d talk to his beloved cousin about the awful truth he realized the other day.” Just because he wasn’t going to outright say it didn’t mean th Galvan couldn’t tease them a little bit.

“What truth?” The couple said in unison while giving Albedo the dirtiest looks he’d ever seen on their faces.

The Galvan just shrugged and gave them a sly smirk. “You’ll have to ask him about that. I’m done talking with you two.” The look of anger in Kevin’s face and the look of irritation on Gwen’s was a lovely sight. Albedo’s smirk turned into a grin when Kevin got up and left the room with a frustrated growl. “You’re boyfriend has such a short temper Gwendolyn.” Turning his gaze back to the redhead he was more than a little surprised to see her look of irritation was gone, instead replaced with a smirk of her own.

“I know he does, and now that he’s gone why don’t you tell _me_ the truth. I have a lot more patience than Kevin so you should guess that I won’t leave without hearing what I want. Plus, it should be easier just talking to me than to both of us. I won’t laugh or poke fun at you unlike Kevin.” Gwen wished that wasn’t the truth but in all honestly, she knew Kevin would push Albedo over the edge by teasing and goading the injured Galvan. Without her boyfriend in the room it should be easier to get the answers she needed.

“What makes you think it will be that easy?” Albedo crossed his arms in defiance.

“I don’t think it will be easy, but I’m also not going to demand you tell me anything like Kevin tried to do. All I’m asking is that you let me help my cousin, is that really too much for you?” Gwen hoped this would work. She never liked seeing Ben down like this and if Albedo had the answers she needed she was going to do anything she could to get him to talk. Thankfully her efforts weren’t going to be in vain.

That feeling from earlier had bubbled back up in Albedo’s mind as Gwen kept talking about trying to help Ben. Curse these human emotions. What was the point in having them if they just got in the way like this? “I don’t know why I’m even going to tell you any of this, but if it gets you off my back then I guess it would be beneficial to me.”

Gwen smiled and motioned for Albedo to continue. She listened silently to the Galvan’s explanation on what had happened between him and her cousin. It sounded as if Ben had been pushing Albedo a little too much, even Gwen could see that, but how Albedo had retaliated wasn’t really any better. Even _if_ the Galvan was right he didn’t really have any right to say that to her cousin, but at least he was telling her the truth.

“And then he went completely silent and hasn’t said a word to me since. There, is that what you wanted to hear?” Albedo was expecting some kind of remark from the other. A snide comment on how he shouldn’t have spoken to her cousin like he had or even some kind of threat, but all Gwen did was nod to him and get up from her spot at the foot of the bed.

“If that’s everything then yes, that’s what I wanted to hear. Come on Zed.” Gwen moved to leave with Zed in tow behind her. She stopped just outside the doorway and looked back at the albino with a small smile. “Thank you Albedo. Try not to cause my Aunt too much trouble while you stay here, and be nice to her. She’s only trying to make sure you get better.” With that, Gwen left Albedo alone and made her way down the hall to Ben’s room.

Albedo was left sitting on his bed, stunned once again by a member of the Tennyson family. It was even more shocking considering it was a member of the family he knew and _fought_ before. Did Gwen really just thank him? Just for telling her the truth? And again, he was told that Sandra’s only intention was to make sure he got better. None of this seemed right, none of it even seemed real to Albedo. Could what Ben and Gwen had said about Sandra be true? Did she really only want him to get better? He shook his head and let out a small growl of frustration.

“No, it’s not possible. They’re just trying to trick me into thinking that she cares. I’ll find out what she’s hiding sooner or later, I won’t fall for these tricks Tennyson. You can’t fool me.” Albedo focused back on the TV, trying to distract himself. After a minute or two he let out a low groan and leaned his head back against the headboard. “But, are they really even trying to trick me?” This was starting to get too confusing even for Albedo. What were their motives? Why was Sandra so nice? Why hadn’t Ben just handed him off to the Plumbers when they were here? Why did Gwen just THANK him?

  
What was even going on here?


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's have the boys play a little game shall we?

What ever Gwen had said to her cousin yesterday it had to have been something amazing because Ben was back to his usual self. He was all smiles and full of energy at the breakfast table. Albedo had gotten a little tired of just staying in his room and had asked Sandra if it was okay for him to move downstairs for the day. Why he even asked her was beyond him but he did feel a little better when she had agreed so long as he promised not to try and walk without either her or Ben’s help. It was a simple agreement he could live with for now. That feeling from the other day was gone as well so that had Albedo in a slightly better mood.

“Okay boys, I’m going to be busy today running errands so I trust you two can get along until I come back home?” Sandra asked while she washed the dishes. She was very proud that the two were getting along so far. Nothing serious had happened except for Ben’s odd behaviour the other day, but that was practically nonexistent now. She couldn’t understand what Max’s problem was when he had found out about Albedo was staying here. The boy was so well behaved and acting nothing like the way Max had described.

“Don’t worry Mom, we’ll be fine. Promise I won’t annoy him too much.” Ben smiled and laughed a little bit. He was feeling a lot better after Gwen talked to him yesterday. He didn’t know what he would do without her around sometimes. “Besides, what could we even do? Argue loud enough to annoy Mr. Bauman? Not like Albedo can really do anything other than that.” His snarky attitude was back full force as well.

“Oh ha ha, very funny Tennyson. I’d be careful if I were you, losing all that hot air you have stored in your head might cause you to pass out. It’s certainly not like you have a brain in there.” Snarky verse snappy. Anything Tennyson could dish out Albedo could throw right back at him. If Tennyson was going to start with this low key verbal fight Albedo was going in full force.

Sandra just rolled her eyes and smiled. At least they weren’t trying to physically fight each other. She could deal with a little back and forth bickering between the two boys. It was nothing out of the ordinary. “Alright you two settle down. Now, I’m going to be gone most of the day so Ben, I’ll leave you some money so you can order food. Albedo, remember our agreement, no trying to move without Ben’s help. Oh, and the doctor will be coming back next week to check up on you too, now I have to run or else I’ll never get everything done on time.” She walked around and gave Ben a kiss on his cheek. “Bye sweetie.”

Albedo thought she was going to leave after that but to his surprise Sandra had walked over to him and ruffled his hair with a bright looking smile.

“Bye Albedo.”

Only after that had she left for good. That was, rather unexpected and very odd. Albedo quickly fixed his hair and gave a little annoyed huff. “Was that really necessary for her to do?” He looked over to Ben and motioned for him to help him up. “Your mother is very odd sometimes.”

Ben rolled his eyes and got up to help the Galvan to his feet. “You say that because you’re just not used to her. My mom is awesome, even if I can’t stand her ‘healthy’ food diet.” He made a somewhat disgusted looking face and walked Albedo into the living room, sitting him down on the couch. “Like I keep telling you, she’s just a nice person.” Ben took a seat on the floor and grabbed the remote, flicking on the TV. The first thing that came blasting out of the speakers was the same voice that had been making Ben cringe for a long time now.

“BEN TENNYSON IS NOTHING BUT A MENACE TO THIS TOWN AND EVERYONE IN IT!” Will Hurang. Of course he would still be live on the air.

“Geez, doesn’t that guy have anything else to report about? I haven’t even done anything in the past week!” Ben quickly flipped to another channel, pouting just a bit. “I swear he’s like a broken record, saying the same thing over and over again. I’m surprised they even let him stay on air. Most people see him as a joke now anyway.”

As Ben flipped through channels Albedo let out a little scoff behind him. “While normally I would agree with anyone who despises you, you have a point. You’ve been stuck here for the past week and therefore haven’t had much of a chance to be a ‘menace’ as that man was saying.” After Ben flipped through another seven or eight channels Albedo started to get annoyed. “Can’t you pick something already? There must be something on that can occupy your feeble mind.”

“Hey gimme a break alright. Usually I wouldn’t even be home right now, haven’t had time to actually watch TV in a while. Normally I’d just play video games until I got a call to head out on a mission or I’d already be on patrol with Rook but since looking after you in my own house is my current mission I’m basically at a loss on what to watch. Plus, there’s literally nothing good on.” Ben stopped fiddling with the remote and let the Animal Planet channel play for a bit. “Unless you have any other suggestions I’m going back to channel surfing.”

Albedo sighed and thought for a second. “Well, you just said you usually play video games. Why not just do that? It has to be better than this.” The Galvan motioned to the flickering screen. “I don’t really care what you do just stop doing this. It’s annoying.”

“Dude, it’s your funeral. Once I start playing I’m not stopping. Your choice here.” Ben may not be able to get immersed into TV anymore but his video games? The universe would have to be in danger to get him to stop playing once he was in the zone. If Albedo was going to go down this path it was only fair Ben warn him.

“Do what you want just stop flicking back and forth through the channels.” Albedo did not care in the slightest. So long as something solid stayed on the screen for more than half a second. Let’s just say once Ben started playing things got, interesting.

It was like the Omnitrix wielders whole demeanor changed the second he started playing. If Albedo didn’t know any better he would almost compare Ben’s attitude change to the attitude he has when he fights aliens. It was almost a complete turnaround from his earlier, laid back attitude. Ben looked focused, his eyes sharp and his face full of concentration. He was playing some kind of fighting game by the looks of it and Albedo couldn’t decide if he wanted to watch Ben himself or the screen. Both seemed like an interesting choice at the moment but in a split second Ben was throwing his hands up in the air and shouting. The screen flashed the words ‘YOU WIN’ in bright blue letters. That felt unusually fast for a game.

“Hey, you wanna try playing something?”

The Galvan was pulled away from his thoughts at Ben’s comment. “What?”

“Do you wanna play with me? I have multiplayer games. It can’t be that fun just sitting there and watching.” Ben was just trying to be a little nicer to his twin. They were going to be stuck with each other for a while after all.

Albedo had to think this over a bit. He’d never played video games before. Obviously always too busy doing other more important things or just flat out running from the Plumbers, Albedo hadn’t really had time for leisurely activities such as this. Maybe he could try it? “I guess. What did you have in mind Tennyson?” Albedo should have backed out the second he saw a grin spread across Ben’s face.

“Fuck you Albedo! How did you just get ANOTHER blue shell!?” Ben was furious. He’d suggested the two play a game of Mario Kart and somehow that game turned into an all out WAR between the two boys. Ben was currently struggling to hold first in the current race after the Galvan had just hit him with a second blue shell in a ROW.

“I guess I’m just lucky Tennyson!” The poor Galvan was barely pulling out of seventh when that second blue shell popped up in the little circle in the corner of his side of the screen. Albedo barely had any idea what was going on or if he was even going to be able to catch up to Ben at this point but fuck if he wasn’t going to try his best to take Tennyson down. He might not admit it out loud but Albedo was actually having fun right now.

The race ended with Ben in second thanks to that second blue shell and Albedo in fifth. There was only one more race left in the tournament Ben had picked for them and it was Albedo’s turn to pick the course. As he stood now, the Galvan was in a pretty low seventh out of twelve spots while Ben was in third. Albedo wasn’t happy about that but he was going to make sure Ben went down. He picked the final course and he saw Ben’s face drop.

“You mother fucker DID YOU JUST PICK RAINBOW ROAD?!”

“If I’m going down you’re coming with me Tennyson!” Ben had made the dire mistake of telling Albedo about the course called Rainbow Road and how it was the bane of almost every racer’s existence. If Albedo was going to lose to Ben he was at least going to lose while doing his damned best to get Ben out of his third place standing. “It’s your own fault for telling me about this course. Now shut up and play.”

The two got ready, eyes trained on the screen, and the second that green light flashed all hell broke loose. The AI rocketed in front of both Albedo and Ben and the two wound up fighting for fifth place almost the entire first lap. Albedo was close to pulling away when he saw Ben get a ring of red shells. That was not good. The little warning icon popped up behind him and that was it. He got hit with a red shell and the next thing he knew he was in ninth.

“YOU’RE FULL OF SHIT TENNYSON! ***** That was bullshit!” Albedo growled as Ben laughed. This was not going to be an easy thing to come back from. Tennyson was so going to pay for that one later.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It was pretty late when Sandra finally got home. She hadn’t really expected to take ALL day with her errands but that’s life sometimes. Opening the front door and stepping inside, the first thing she noticed was the sound of the TV being on. Were the boys still up watching something? It wouldn’t be much of a surprise really. “Ben? Albedo? You two still down here?” She walked into the living room and stopped in her tracks at the sight before her. “Oh, now that’s just precious.”

Albedo was passed out on the couch, one arm under his head while the other hung off the side of the couch. Ben was sleeping right below him on the floor, his back facing the TV. Ben’s game system was still on and the controllers they had been using were sitting on the table top. The screen showed the final scores of the game they had been playing. Ben was in fourth while Albedo was in fifth. Sandra had no idea what had gone on while she was away but it seemed to her like the boys had some fun. Making sure to not wake them, she quietly made her way to the hallway closet where she stored the extra blankets. She put one over Albedo and another over Ben. Who was she to disturb their sleep now?

  
“Sweet dreams boy.” She smiled, and flicked off the living room lights before making her way to her own bedroom. Hopefully Carl won’t wake them up when he comes home tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Shout out to my friend @ninatucker on tumblr for this little line of Albedo's :3 It was their idea and I just thought it would be a perfect line for this chapter lol


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hope to God I wrote Carl Tennyson okay in this chapter. I am so sorry if he seems OOC but he really didn't get much screen time in any of the series.

Waking up on the couch with a blanket over him wasn’t exactly what Albedo had expected the morning after his and Ben’s little video game binge. In all honestly he didn’t even remember falling asleep on the couch last night, but he was a little thankful his leg wasn’t acting up today. The pain was still there but it was rather dull compared to any other day thus far. Sitting up and giving a good stretch, Albedo looked around to see if anyone else was up and about yet. The first thing he noticed was that Ben was nowhere to be found. Had he gone upstairs to his room last night while Albedo was still asleep?

“So you’re finally awake? It’s about time.” Albedo jumped slightly at the unfamiliar voice. Turning around slightly to see who was speaking, Albedo locked eyes with a man he had never seen before. This must be Carl Tennyson, Sandra’s husband. “Sandra asked me not to wake you up, says you need your rest.” The man he assumed was Carl walked around and sat on the opposite couch, never taking his eyes off Albedo for a second. The tense atmosphere was actually starting to make the Galvan nervous.

“Um, I guess I do need to rest more than usual. My wounds aren’t exactly going to heal quickly if I don’t.” Albedo’s eyes scanned the rest of the room, looking for any other sign of life in the house. Where were Ben and Sandra? He strained to hear any kind of sounds and felt a little relief when he faintly heard someone walking around down the hall.

“My father’s told me quite a bit about you Albedo and I have to be honest, I don’t exactly trust you at the moment.” Carl had been more than informed on who this person was and what they were capable of thanks to his father. Max had practically given him every piece of information the Plumbers had on Albedo the same day that Sandra had insisted the boy stay in her house. Carl wasn’t exactly happy with the information he’d been given and questioned how on Earth his wife and son could be okay with having this criminal in their home.

Albedo lowered his gaze to the floor so he could avoid inadvertently glaring at the man before him. “I see.” Of course Max Tennyson would tell his son everything. Why wouldn’t he? The Magister wanted nothing more than to put Albedo back in his cell and never let him out. So much for having any form of peace in this house.

“Carl you better not be hassling him. You promised me you’d be nice.” Sandra’s voice chimed in from down the hall as she made her way to the living room. She knew her husband already had a biased opinion on Albedo thanks to her father-in-law and she didn’t want Carl making any harsh comments to the injured boy. Unintentional or not.

“I know honey, I was just going to go over a few rules I want set in while he’s staying here.” According to his father, Albedo was a cunning and manipulative criminal. If he was going to be staying in the Tennyson house Carl wanted to have some ground rules in place.

“Carl he can barely walk on his own, what rules could you possibly set for him?” Sandra came over and sat down next to her husband, a soft frown on her usually smiling face. “Not to mention he’s under our son’s constant watch. Well, except for today, but that’s only because Ben was needed for important Plumber business. Besides, he hasn’t done a single thing wrong since he’s been here.” That morning Sandra had woken up to her son practically bolting out of the front door saying something about an alien peace treaty and that they needed him to be there to mediate. She couldn’t catch much with how quickly Ben had left but she could guess that it was very important, and since Ben was gone it was her job to look after Albedo until he came home.

Carl tried to think of a decent argument against his wife’s claim but his father had already told him that Sandra was well informed about the boy sitting across from them and what he’d done in the past. His wife just didn’t seem to care, but if she trusted Albedo to behave while he was in their home, maybe he could put aside what his father had told him. Who knows, maybe Max was wrong this time? “Alright, alright. If you say he’s fine then, I’ll trust you honey. But if he does one wrong thing-”

“Carl.” Sandra eyed her husband with a disapproving look. “Instead of judging him on what you’ve heard why don’t we get to know him personally now? He is sitting right in front of us.” She turned her gaze to Albedo and gave a soft smile. “Would you mind if we asked some questions?” When the other shook his head she turned back to her husband and made a hand motion as if to tell him ‘see?’. “So, to start off, why don’t you just tell us about what you generally like to do.”

Albedo had to think hard for this. He’d never really been questioned like this before. He was more accustomed to being asked whether or not he understood his rights, not being asked what he liked to do in his spare time. “I do rather enjoy science. Mechanical engineering, forensic science, astronomy, any kind really. It’s typical for my species but that doesn’t mean it’s not enjoyable. I also tried my hand at coding a little while back, a simple thing to be honest but I did like it.” He was about to go one but stopped when he noticed the two before him had looks of utter confusion on their faces. Right, these two wouldn’t really know much about any of that. “How about you ask a less, general question.”

Sandra nodded, making a mental note to look up some of those things Albedo just listen. “Okay, how about you tell us what your favorite color is? Or maybe you have a favorite book?”

Those were new ones. Albedo’s never actually thought about that before. “Well actually, I do rather enjoy the color blue. Red is honestly a close second, even if I have been stuck with that color permanently. As for books, I never really got much of a chance to read considering I have been on the run constantly.” This kind of questioning, it actually wasn’t that bad to answer to. Albedo’s never been asked about what he liked before and it felt nice to talk about the things he enjoyed for once. Sandra and Carl were actually very respectful too, even if they didn’t understand something. They even asked him to explain a few things and let him go into full detail. By the end of it all, Albedo was in a much better mood than ever before.

Now, Carl may not have been a big fan of Albedo at first but after listening to the boy talk about what he really liked he couldn’t deny the feeling that maybe Max really was wrong about him. Seeing how happy Albedo started to look while explaining things to him and Sandra made him realize that maybe his father just wasn’t letting himself see past Albedo’s previous transgressions? Or that maybe Max and the plumbers just weren’t letting the boy have a chance to redeem himself. Seeing how he was acting now, even if he kept saying that he was ‘trapped’ here, made Carl really think. According to Max, Albedo was a rude and condescending criminal, but all Carl was seeing right now was an excited kid talking about things that made him happy. Albedo didn’t have to explain anything to him and Sandra, the boy didn’t  _ have _ to be polite to them, he didn’t have to do any of what he was doing now. Yet here he was, sitting in front of him and babbling on to Sandra about what a Nuclear Phase Disruptor was and even doing his best to explain to her what it could do in the simplest ways. If Carl had any kind of opinion on the boy now that he actually got to know him, it would be that Albedo just needed some guidance. Hopefully he and Sandra both could provide that for him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am so thankful Ben and Gwen have the relationship they have now because boy would this chapter have been a hell of a lot harder to write if they didn't. Gwen gives the best advice sometimes.
> 
> Also please remember that comments really help me out and that I love to hear what you think of the story. Also, if you spot any kind of mistake please point it out to me so I can fix it! I don't really have a beta reader and reading it over myself only goes over so much -w-;

To say Ben was worried when he had to leave home for an important peace treaty signing would only be about half right. Yes he was still a little wary about leaving his mom and dad home alone with Albedo but he also felt as though he really shouldn’t be worrying about anything considering the fact the Galvan really couldn’t do anything other than lash out with words. Either way, Ben was an internal nervous wreck during the entire peace negotiation. He was constantly debating whether or not to step out for a moment to call home and make sure everything was okay. Although it did make him feel a little better knowing the two species that were making a treaty decided to do it here on Earth since Plumber base was kind of considered a huge neutral ground area for every and all species in space.

The treaty was taking pretty long to work out, as these things normally do, so when the two leaders announced that they would like a break Ben wanted to bolt out of there and call his mom as fast as he could. Of course, he didn’t because this was important Plumber business and he couldn’t really afford to fuck this up. Instead he nodded and quietly got up and left the room, but once he was out of sight he ran down the hall and into the nearest empty room he could find and pulled out his phone. He was about to call home when he stopped for a second and thought about what he was about to do. He had every right to be worried about his family being with one of his worst enemies in his own home, but was it really worth all this stress? Yes, Albedo was a cunning, manipulative piece of shit most of the time but so far, he’s been pretty tame. It’s probably just because he’s injured to the point he can’t walk but still, how much damage could he really do? And wouldn’t his parents call him if there was an emergency?

Staring down at his phone, Ben really thought about what was going on right now. He needed some good advice on what to do right now and he only knew one person he could really trust asking. He scrolled down a few numbers and hit call. His phone rang a few times before the person on the other line picked up.

“Hi Ben, what’s up?” Gwen’s voice came through the receiver.

“Hey Gwen, I need some help. Got a few minutes to spare?” Ben gave a small laugh and sat down in a chair.

“Of course. What do you need Ben?” Gwen held her cell in between her shoulder as she reorganized some of the books in her underground library. Boy was she glad Professor Hex lets her use this place when she needs some quiet study time,

“Okay so you’re already caught up on the whole Albedo situation right? Well, I’m in the middle of mediating a peace treaty and I’m a little worried about the fact Mom and Dad are at home alone with him. I know my mom has been alone with him before and he didn’t do anything and yes I know he’s injured and can’t really do much but I’m still worried. I just… I don’t know what to do right now. I want to call and make sure everything is fine but at the same time, they would’ve called if it was an emergency right?”

Ben sounded frustrated and Gwen could just picture the little scowl he must have on his face. She let out a little hum as she thought about what she would say. “Well, let me ask you a few questions Ben. How’s his attitude been since he’s been there?”

“His attitude?” Ben paused for a moment. “Well, he’s honestly been really tame. Yeah we argue back and forth over the same stupid things but it’s not really that bad. It’s like he’s just doing it out of boredom rather than putting any real feeling behind it.”

“Okay then, how about how he acts towards your mom? How does he treat her?”

“Honestly? He treats her like she’s a normal person. He hasn’t really said a single rude thing to her, at least, not that I’ve heard. Why are you-”

“Let me finish Ben.” Gwen could practically hear her cousin pouting over the phone. She smiled a bit as she put away another book. “If Albedo hasn’t done anything so far then you shouldn’t really worry. I’m not saying you should forget everything he’s done to you in the past and I’m not saying you should trust him, but you should trust your parents. Aunt Sandra may be nice to him now because he’s hurt but you of all people should know that if Albedo really does do something wrong to her or Uncle Carl she would tell you right away. Your mom has a good heart but she does know where to draw a line Ben. You have every right to be worried but honestly? I think you should just let things play out as they are now. Who knows? Maybe something good will come out of this, and it’s also better to know that he’s stuck with your parents in your house then out and about doing who knows what.” She wanted to go on but as she went to continue Professor Hex came into her line of view and gave her the signal that her next class was starting. “I gotta go Ben, next class is up in a few minutes. Hope I helped out at least a little bit.”

Ben smiled and nodded to himself. “Yeah, thanks Gwen. Have fun in your next class.” After saying goodbye to his cousin Ben hung up and sat back in the chair. He was glad him and Gwen were so close now, he didn’t know what he would do without her sometimes. He’d take Gwen’s advice for now, calm down a bit about everything and let it play out. He didn’t have to trust Albedo, but he did have to trust his parents. They would call him if they really needed help. As far as something good possibly coming out of this whole situation? Who really knew. As far as he was concerned, anything was possible right now. Maybe a miracle could happen and Albedo won’t be that much of an ass after he’s healed but right now, Ben had a peace treaty to get back to. The only thing he was hoping for now was that this thing didn’t take days to figure out like the last time.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We all know homework sucks. For Ben, it's even worse. Just because he's a hero does't mean jack when your teachers still give you homework AND classwork to do so they won't have to deal with you anymore :3c

After the doctor came back yesterday to check on him, Albedo was happy to be told that his leg was finally healing properly. Although he was a little off put by the fact the earliest he would be able to even attempt to leave would be at least another month from now and even then his leg might not be healed completely. Just because his leg  _ was _ healing didn’t change the fact it was still nearly broken and in a cast. Then again, the thought of staying here a little longer didn’t really seem as bad as it would have before. Albedo was kind of starting to get used to being here, not that he would ever really admit that out loud.

Today wasn’t really much different from the past two weeks. Sandra was doing her own thing around the house, Albedo was sitting in the living room watching some TV, Carl was out at work as usual, but Ben was sitting in the kitchen for some reason. Albedo could hear Ben grumbling to himself before he heard a loud groan of annoyance. “What on Earth?” Albedo turned his gaze towards the kitchen. “What are you doing in there Tennyson? It sounds like you’re dying!”

“I MIGHT AS WELL BE!” Ben was frustrated, beyond frustrated at this point! Why on Earth would a hero like himself have to be subject to the torture that is homework? Especially chemistry homework like this! This shit was near impossible to do when you’re rarely ever in class anymore. He didn’t understand a word of any of this and he has a least a week’s worth of work in front of him right now. Ben let out another groan before slamming his head against the table. “Why do I have to do any of this! I’ve saved the whole universe and I still have to be subjected to chemistry homework?!” Ben was on the verge of just giving up. Maybe he could sneak onto his computer and google the answers without his mom finding out.

“Chemistry? You’re having issues with  _ chemistry _ of all things? Bring whatever it is you’re working on in here.” How could Tennyson be having issues with such a simple thing as chemistry? Then again, it  _ was _ Ben. The Omnitrix wielder had trouble with a lot of things Albedo found to be simple.

“And what exactly are you gonna do? Laugh at me for not knowing something I wasn’t even there to learn about?” Ben was in no mood to hear his evil twin’s ridicule for not knowing something the other could probably do in a few seconds. He’d rather just suffer in silence.

“As fun as that sounds, no. I was going to offer you some help, and if you weren’t there to learn the material then it’s not really funny. But if you really don’t want my help th-” Before he could finish his sentence Ben was dumping all his papers and books onto the living room table in front of them.

“Screw that. Please for the love of God Albedo if you understand ANY of this don’t fuck with me and just  _ help _ me. I must’ve read this book three times over trying to figure out how to do this work and I just CAN’T for the life of me.” Ben was just desperate at this point and if Albedo was really willing to help him he was going to take the chance and let him help. He needed to finish this work because if not he was definitely going to fail. Hero or not, his chemistry teacher wanted this work turned in by the end of the day tomorrow and if he didn’t he’d be repeating her class next year.

Albedo rolled his eyes and picked up some of the worksheets, and his jaw nearly dropped when he saw what Ben was struggling with. “Are you kidding me Tennyson!” He turned and glared at his twin. It wasn’t an evil glare either, it was more like an ‘I can’t believe you’ glare mixed with a look of disappointment. “I could do this kind of work in my sleep! I understand you weren’t there to learn the work but really!? Grab a pen and start taking notes, I’m teaching you how to do this because I’m certainly not just going to do it for you.” Albedo saw Ben just staring at him and the Galvan snapped again. “Don’t just stare Tennyson I said start taking notes!”

Ben was quick to snap out of it and grab his notebook and pen. Well, at least he was going to learn the material, and what better way to learn it than from a genius? Self proclaimed or not. He was expecting Albedo to just speed through his explanation but to his surprise the Galvan actually took his time and thoroughly explained everything Ben had to do to get the answers he needed. He even stopped to let Ben ask a few questions when he got confused on some of the more complicated parts of the Galvan’s explanation. After only half an hour Ben had about six pages of notes and three out of his ten worksheets done. With Albedo helping him everything seemed a lot less difficult than before.

Albedo on the other hand was getting a little agitated. Not at Ben, but at the fact his teacher would give him all this work that he clearly wouldn’t understand unless Tennyson had been there to learn the material. The book he had been given only did so much to help and Albedo had a growing suspicion that the book itself was way out of date. What was this teacher thinking? How could they expect Tennyson to do all this work without having been taught the proper way to do it? If he were still on Galvan Prime something like this would not go without sever punishment. It would almost be considered criminal and the Galvan who was supposed to be teaching would certainly lose their job as an instructor.

“Uhh, Albedo? I need help again. This worksheet is completely different from the last few.” Ben was ready to start taking notes again as he watched Albedo look over the sheet of paper.

“Right, this is from a different section than the last ones. Okay so what you want to do here is this.” Albedo grabbed the textbook and started to show Ben what to do for the next part of the work. The two were so busy with Ben’s homework that neither took notice of the fact they had an audience.

Sandra stood behind them, leaning against the wall that separated the living room from the front hallway. She smiled to herself as she silently watched the boys work together on Ben’s homework. Sandra felt an odd sense of pride as she listened to Albedo teach Ben how to work out each problem to get to the right answer. It was the little things like this that she was able to witness that made her believe Max was wrong about the albino. How could he be as bad as Max says when he willingly does things like this? If Albedo really hated her son as much as both Max and Ben claimed why would he even offer to help Ben with homework? She shook her head, and quietly made her way into the kitchen, deciding the boys deserved a little snack while they worked.

While Sandra gathered all the ingredients she needed the house phone rang. Holding a bag of flour in one hand, she picked up the phone. “Tennyson residence, Sandra speaking. How can I help you?”

“Sandra? It’s Max. I just got the report on Albedo’s leg. Just wanted to make sure the doc told you about it?”

“Of course. I was home yesterday when he came over so I know what’s going on.” She heard loud chattering in the background of Max’s line. “Is everything okay over there? It sounds pretty loud.”

Max let out a heavy sigh. “Everything is fine, it’s just some of our files are getting a little backed up and misplaced. The computer filing system was shut down for maintenance the other day and things are a little hectic without it. No one is used to paper filing anymore.”

Sandra couldn’t help but laugh a little at that. “Maybe you should hold a filing class for everyone when things get sorted out.” The Plumbers had some of the most advanced technology and yet they can’t even handle simple paper filing.

Max let out a chuckle. “Maybe I should.” There was a pause before Max’s voice came back with a more serious tone. “Look Sandra, I’m sorry I have to ask but, how’s Albedo been acting? He hasn’t done anything suspicious has he?”

“Well, unless you count helping Ben with his homework as suspicious, then no. Albedo hasn’t done anything Max.” Sandra smiled as she said that. She was happy that she could tell Max with certainty that Albedo wasn’t doing anything wrong. “I don’t know why you’re so worried anyway. So far he hasn’t done anything or said anything harmful, he’s been such a delight to have around in all honesty. He’s a little awkward sometimes but I think that’s just because he’s not used to being in this kind of environment.” She looked out through the kitchen pass through* at the two boys sitting in the living room. “I’m telling you Max, you’re wrong about him.” She heard her father-in-law sigh and she prepared herself for the usual.

“I know you want to think that Sandra but still. We can’t just forget all that he’s done in the past. He’s a criminal that I’ve had to deal with more than I would like to admit, and he’s tried to kill Ben before, Sandra. It’s going to take a lot more than just him behaving while he’s injured to convince me that I’m wrong.”

Sandra sighed and switched the phone from her left shoulder to her right. “I know Max, but it was worth a shot to try.” She smiled and put the bowl she was mixing down. It was about time she used the mixer. “I’ll have to let you go now Max, I’m baking cookies for the boys.” She heard her father-in-law laugh.

“Of course you are. Okay, I’ll talk to you again soon. Just… keep me updated okay?”

“I will dad, don’t worry.” After she hung up she was quick to try and finish the cookies before the boys were done with Ben’s homework, but if she knew her son Sandra knew he would want help with his other subjects and not just chemistry. These cookies would be done long before those two would be finished with Ben’s mountain of homework that she knew he’d been putting off until the last minute. Low and behold, she was right.

“I can’t believe you had THIS much work to be done!” Albedo sounded aggravated as he looked over some of Ben’s Algebra homework. “Where you seriously just going to put all of this off until the last second?”

“Give me a break! I’ve been busy with Plumber business and ya know, saving the planet and on occasion the whole universe! Do you know how little time I have to myself? This is technically the most ‘down time’ I’ve had in forever!” Ben huffed as he continued working on a different worksheet. “If I had known you were gonna make me do ALL of my homework I would’ve just kept my mouth shut.” He mumbled as he tried to work out a problem.

“And then you would be failing half your classes, now shut up and keep working while I look over the ones you’ve already finished. At the rate you’re going you might actually finish all of this before nightfall.”

“Well then, I hate to interrupt but I thought you two might want a snack while you were working.” Sandra came over with a plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and two glasses of milk. “Figured you might like something sweet.” She saw Ben’s eyes light up as he reached over and grabbed a cookie while Albedo just sat there staring at the plate in confusion. “Well, go ahead and have some Albedo. They’re for the both of you after all.” She turned away and started to walk back to clean up the kitchen.

“Thanks mom.” Both Ben and Albedo said in unison, to the utter horror of the Galvan and the total shock of both Tennyson’s.

“Did you jus-”

“SANDRA! I MEANT TO SAY SANDRA!”

“You just called her mom!” Ben was in hysterics within seconds. Oh this was priceless and he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to tell Gwen the second he got the chance.

Albedo just wanted to hide in a hole and never come out. This was utterly humiliating! What on Earth possessed him to call Sandra mom?! “This isn’t happening.” He sounded totally defeated.

Sandra just stood there looking at the two with a smile on her face, holding back a little laughter of her own. Now if only her father-in-law could see this. Maybe then he’d be a little more reluctant to believe others can change when they’re with the right kind of people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * It's basically that fucking window thing some people have in their kitchens that let you look into the other room and sometimes is used as like a mini counter top.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More character development for our little trash husband :D

After that utterly embarrassing moment the other day where he accidentally called Sandra ‘mom’ of all things, Albedo was about ready to suffocate himself with a pillow. Ben had NOT let it go, and apparently Gwen was informed of his slip up and if she knew that meant Kevin knew and if Levin knew it wouldn’t be long before every being in this galaxy knew. Kevin may be an ex-con but he still had a big mouth. Albedo was contemplating trying to escape again if only to attempt to hide, possibly for the rest of his miserable life at this point. He regretted allowing himself to ever get comfortable in this damned house.

“I still can’t believe you called her mom!” Ben was grinning like the idiot he was as he sat on the floor in front of Albedo. “Your face was absolutely priceless! I wish I had gotten a picture of it.”

“If you had I really would try smothering you in your sleep, and would you let it go! It was an  _ accident  _ and nothing more! I didn’t mean to call her that, it was just a slip of the tongue.” Albedo growled as he laid across the couch while leaning back against the armrest. He didn’t know why he even bothered to stay down here with Ben instead of just staying in his room like usual. “Keep messing with me and I honestly will suffocate you with this couch pillow.”

“Oh really? I’d love to see you try ‘bro’.” Ben started cackling to himself. Next thing he knew he was being pulled back by his shirt collar and had a pillow pressed into his face. It wasn’t pressed hard enough to cut off his air supply though, so he could only guess that this was just a warning. “Aww come on! Take a joke for once Albedo!” His voice was muffled by the fabric as he tried to get free from his twin’s grasp.

“I don’t mind your ‘jokes’ but this one is already getting old and it’s annoying.” Albedo just wanted to drop the whole subject. It was bad enough it happened but he was in no mood to constantly be reminded that it happened. He let go of Ben and placed the pillow behind himself again. He looked down at Ben to see the other leaning back and looking up at him with a pout on his face. “What’s with that face?”

“You’re no fun. You gotta learn to laugh at yourself sometimes man, not every slip up has to be a bad thing. So you messed up and called my mom ‘mom’ by accident, big deal. It was funny, not the end of the world Albedo. I mess up all the time and you don’t see me making a big deal about it.” Ben shrugged his shoulders and went back to watching the TV. “Most of the time I laugh off my mistakes so long as they weren’t like, royal screw ups.”

Albedo raised a brow at Tennyson’s statement. “You were on the verge of tears yesterday just because you spilled your smoothie all over yourself.” He saw Ben flinch and lower his head.

“O-oh, you noticed that?” Ben was hoping the other hadn’t seen that, guess he wasn’t in luck. “Okay, so what? I didn’t make a big vocal deal about it.” Ben sat up straight and crossed his arms.

“It was a smoothie. And you almost  _ cried _ over it.”

“It was my favorite flavor okay! You don’t understand damnit! Smoothies are very important to me and nothing is worse than spilling your favorite drink!”

“What about your family getting hurt?” Albedo was almost horrified that Ben had paused before answering.

“Okay,  _ almost  _ nothing.” Another pause. “We’re dropping this subject and in return I won’t make fun of the mom incident anymore.”

“Deal Tennyson.” Not that Albedo wanted to hear Ben rant about smoothies anyway. “By the way, did you turn in all that homework that was due yesterday?” Ben had left for a while the day before, hence why he had a smoothie, and had taken his backpack with him as well. The Galvan could only assume Ben had turned in the work, but this was Tennyson he was talking about.

“Yeah, but I was almost accused of cheating because I got every answer right. Do you know hard it was to explain to my teachers I had an alien genius helping me with it? It’s why I was taking so long getting home. I almost had to call here because they wanted to talk to you to make sure I wasn’t lying. It took me ten minutes to actually convince them that was a bad idea, considering you were still in a pissy mood from the whole-” Ben stopped himself and instead made a little hand gesture. “So yeah, that was an interesting conversation I had to have with like, six teachers at once.”

“Well maybe if they weren’t so idiotic you wouldn’t have needed my help.” Albedo scoffed. “I guarantee you none of them thought you would even be able to get half that work finished on time. They knew very well you weren’t taught how to do the work properly and probably expected you to not even bother turning it in. And they dare to call themselves teachers.” Albedo and Ben may be enemies but even the Galvan knew Ben was being treated unfairly when it came to that stupid school work he was being forced to do. “If they really cared about you passing they would have at least tried to set something up when you were free to attempt to get you caught up on what they were teaching instead of just dumping all that work on you.” Albedo glanced over at Ben and narrowed his eyes when he saw the other smiling. “What are you grinning about?”

“You do care.” Ben's grin just widened as Albedo became flustered, but before the other could give a retort they heard the front door opening.

“Boys I'm back!” Sandra came hurrying into the living room, a bright and excited smile on her face. “Albedo I have a surprise for you dear.” She didn't wait for a response as she pulled out a small box and handed it to the Galvan. When the albino hesitated she gestured for him to open the box. “Go ahead, open it.” It was easy to see the mother was very excited.

Not wanting to make her way any longer, Albedo gave a mental shrug and opened the gift. He was shocked to see what was inside. “My old jacket.” The Galvan pulled out the piece of clothing and set the box aside. His jacket looked like it was brand new, like nothing had ever happened to it. “Sandra how did you-”

Sandra quickly cut off his question. “I have a friend who works for a tailor and she said she'd fix it as a favor. I gave it to her a few days ago and she finally finished patching it up today.”

“Patching it up? Mom it doesn't even look like it was ruined!” Ben was looking over his twin’s garment it awe. Who ever his mother's friend was did one hell of a job with fixing it. If his mother hadn’t said anything about a tailor Ben would’ve been sure she had just gone out and found Albedo a replacement.

“I can't even tell where the holes used to be.” For once, Albedo was truly grateful for something that was done for him. “Thank you Sandra, you didn't have to do this.” It seemed so surreal that he actually had his jacket back. Albedo was sure he’d never see the garment again after how badly it was torn up.

“Well don’t thank me yet. There’s still one more thing in the box you missed.”

Both Albedo and Ben looked at Sandra in confusion. What else could she have gotten Albedo? The Galvan reached for the box again after placing his old jacket on his lap, and once again he was stunned. There was a second jacket in the box, only this one was blue in color and differed slightly from his old one. A main difference being there was no ‘10’ on it. “Why-”

“Well you said your two favorite colors were red and blue. I figured you would want your old jacket back but then I saw this one while I was out shopping the other day and I thought, why not? Now you have a spare in case your red one gets ruined again.” Sandra had the brightest smile on her face. “So, do you like it?” It was a question she hoped had a positive answer.

Albedo just stared at this new jacket for a few minutes. Sandra had gone through the trouble of getting his old jacket fixed and now she got him a new one? And she even remembered that he said his favorite color was blue. For the first time in a long time, a real smile spread across Albedo’s face. “I do like it. Thank you so much Sandra.”

Sandra was ecstatic that Albedo liked her gift. She wanted to see him try it one but the house phone suddenly rang. “Oh, I’ll get that. I’m so glad you like it Albedo.”

As Sandra got up to answer the phone Albedo and Ben were left alone in the living room, the smile still prominent on the Galvan’s face. “Not to be a downer, but blue totally clashes with like, everything about you Albedo. And I didn’t know that was your favorite color.” Ben looked at his twin’s new jacket and hummed. “It does look pretty nice though.”

Albedo’s smile only faltered for a second. “Well it was a gift from your mother so of course it would look nice, and I don’t care if it ‘clashes’ with my looks. Sandra went through the trouble of getting it for me and if you think I won’t wear it you’d be wrong.” He carefully put both garments back into the box and placed it next to him on the couch. “Hey Ben, listen to what I’m about to say because I won’t be repeating myself.”

Ben looked at Albedo in confusion and cocked his head to the side. “Okay? What’s up?”

The albino chuckled a bit and leaned back against the armrest. “You were right, you’re mother really is just a kind person.” He saw Ben grinning out of the corner of his eye. “Don’t let that get to your empty head. You might hurt yourself.”

“I told you.” Was Ben’s only response before turning around and going back to watching TV.

Albedo just smiled and looked over at Sandra through the kitchen pass. “Yeah, you told me so.” Maybe this house wasn’t so bad after all.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OMG I AM SO FUCKING SORRY FOR THE SUDDEN PAUSE! I got really side tracked with school work and then fucking writer's block hit me hard and I'm just so sorry for those who were waiting! Please enjoy this chapter and I'm sorry if it's not my best, I'm still struggling to break free of this creative slump I seem to be in!
> 
> Remember, comments really help me out and keep me going so please, even a short little comment is greatly appreciated!
> 
> Thanks for waiting guys! <3

If you had asked Albedo to spend an entire day driving around with Ben Tennyson and his partner Rook over two weeks ago you would’ve promptly been told to fuck right off in the most intelligent sounding way possible. Ask him that now and he’d do it with no resistance, which is exactly how he ended up in the Plumber’s Proto-truck on this rather sunny day. As much as he liked just staying inside and relaxing, it did get a little repetitive and the Galvan was surprised he hadn’t gone stir crazy just sitting around for practically three weeks.

“I’m still surprised your mother let me out of the house like this. How did you convince her to let me come with you?” Albedo asked from his spot in the front, turning slightly to look back at Ben who was kneeling down between the driver and passenger seats.

“I have my ways of getting my mom to agree on things.” The Omnitrix wielder had a grin on his face as he answered. “Plus she did feel a little bad for keeping you cooped up in the house all the time. She thought some fresh air would be good for us both.” Ben left out the part where his mother nearly flipped when he had first asked. It took a lot to get her to agree to let Albedo out of the house and one of those agreements was that Rook had to be the one to drive them wherever they wanted to go. His mom didn’t exactly want him driving Albedo around in a sports car without someone else supervising. Sandra knew her son well.

“Well whatever you did, I have to thank you for, it is rather refreshing to be out of the house for a day. Did you have anything in mind that you wanted to do though? Because you know I can’t really do much with this cast.” Albedo may have been happy to get out but he was very limited on what he could actually do. He still wasn’t able to walk on his own so that was out of the question entirely, thinking about it now, there really wasn’t much he could do.

“Who says we really have to do anything? We could just drive around Bellwood or sit at Mr. Smoothies for a while. You don’t actively have to do anything to have a good time Albedo.”

As the two discussed what would be done during the course of their little outing, Rook sat silently in the driver’s seat and kept his eyes on the road. He was not happy at all about the current situation. How could Ben be so calm about having such a dangerous criminal in the truck with him? And why on Earth was he being so friendly? It made no sense to the Revonnahgander. Albedo has kidnapped Ben before, tried to kill him on several occasions, and even tried to steal Azmuth’s brain which resulted in putting not only Ben and himself in danger, but also Gwen, Kevin, and Magister Tennyson as well. How could Ben willingly be kind to such a criminal? Was Albedo using some sort of mind control on his partner that Ben was unaware of? What was the Galvan’s true motive for this sudden… docile behavior that he was exhibiting right now? The last time Rook had seen Ben’s evil twin he was rude, unapologetic, and spouted nothing but death threats towards Ben and himself. Now Albedo and Ben were having what could be called pleasant and, more over, a civil conversation with each other. It unnerved the Revonnahgander to no end, seeing the once enemies now act as though they were friends. Rook was pulled from his thoughts when he felt a tap on his shoulder and glanced over to see Ben giving him a quizzical look.

“You okay Rook? I’ve been trying to get your attention for like, five minutes now.”

Rook shook his head and quickly turned his gaze back to the road. “My apologies Ben, I was merely focusing on the roads. Did you need something?”

“Yeah, start heading to Mr. Smoothies. Gwen just called and said she and Kevin are gonna meet us there.” Ben looked over to Albedo with a knowing grin. “Think you’ll be able to stand being nice to Kevin for a little while?”

“Cork it Ben. So long as Levin doesn’t bring up THAT subject I’m sure I’ll be able to stomach his presence.” The two couldn’t help but laugh a bit, both knowing what they were referencing.

Rook on the other hand was in the dark and had no idea what was so funny. He decided it was best if he just nodded and did as he was asked, setting a mental course to Ben’s favorite smoothie place. As much as he wanted to confront Ben about this abnormal behavior, he would rather not do it in front of the Galvan. Rook would have to wait for an opportunity to ask Ben what exactly was going on.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Arriving at Mr. Smoothies actually caused more question to arise in Rook. Not only was Ben being nice to Albedo, but Gwen as well? The two had greeted each other respectfully and were now holding a conversation about Gwen’s recent astronomy lecture. This day was becoming more and more confusing to the poor Revonnahgander and it seemed unlikely that he would ever get a chance to gain the answers he wanted.

“So how’s your leg doing Albedo? It has to be somewhat better if my Aunt let you out of the house with Ben.” Gwen shot a playful look over at her cousin as Ben whined out a ‘Hey’ in response.

“Better, but not by much. I still can’t walk on my own but most of the other wounds have healed. I can’t really complain though, at least it’s healing.” The Galvan shrugged and took a sip of his smoothie, this one tasting much better than the atrocity he had tried long before. “Thank you for asking Gwen.”

“No problem. I doubt it’s easy living with Ben as your help though. He’s not exactly very reliable.” Gwen smiled and kept her eyes on the book she brought along with her, knowing full well Ben was giving her a look.

“Come on! What is this, bully Ben day? I’m not that bad when it comes to help! Right?” The hero turned to Albedo, expecting him to say something good. Instead he just got a devious grin and a shrug. “Oh come on!” Ben pouted and leaned back in his chair. “I am not that bad at taking care of people.”

“No, you’re not. I’ll admit that Ben, but you still suck at remembering that I can’t walk. You’ve forgotten to help me get downstairs on several occasions.” The albino chuckled as Ben just crossed crossed his arms in annoyance.

“Whatever.” Ben went to take a sip of his smoothie only to realize he was out. “I’m going to get a refill.”

As Ben got up, Rook saw this as an opportunity to see what was really going on, without Albedo over hearing. Rook got up and followed Ben. “Ben, may I ask a few questions before you go back to the table?”

Ben looked up at his partner in confusion. “Yeah sure. What’s up Rook?”

“Why is it that you and Gwen are being so… kind to Albedo? Is he not one of your worst enemies?”

Ben just stared up at Rook for a few seconds before looking down and rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, it’s a little complicated. Yeah he’s still an enemy, but listen Rook, he’s been a lot less… I don’t know, cruel? Since he’s been stuck at my house he’s been acting a lot differently, and Gwen says the best thing to do right now is to let things play out, see what he does. Honestly, I actually started to like having him around. Albedo really isn’t that bad once you get to know him I guess. He’s had every opportunity to try and pull something on me but he hasn’t done a thing. Besides, I think he’s really started to change a little bit.” Ben grabbed his newly refilled smoothie and took a big swig. “Just, try and give him a chance Rook. That’s what my mom asked me to do and look what happened? Even my dad said he thinks Albedo just needs a chance to redeem himself.”

Ben walked back over to the table and Rook followed with a sigh. He could not shake the feeling that Ben was wrong. How could someone who had been trying to get rid of Ben for years suddenly change this drastically in a mere three weeks? It didn’t make any sense to Rook, but if Sandra had asked Ben to give him a chance, who was Rook to question her? He knew very well what Sandra could do, she was the woman who befriended Ma Vreedle for crying out loud. If she could do that, maybe it was possible she could reform Albedo? Rook had his doubts, but for now, he was going to trust Ben and Sandra. But if the Galvan did even one thing out of line, Rook was going to be the one who slapped the cuffs on him and throw him into the jail cell he so rightly belongs in.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WHOO BOY ARE YOU GUYS READY FOR SOME CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT? HERE WE FUCKING GO KIDS :D
> 
> Shout out to @ninatucker on tumblr for the idea of the next two chapters!

_Rain poured down and stung his face as his lungs burned with the strained effort of keeping his body mobile. Panic had long since set in and adrenaline was the only thing keeping him up and moving at this point. Albedo ran as fast as he possibly could while thunder boomed above him and lightning split open the sky in a blinding flash of light. Running was the only thing he could do anymore. All he was ever doing was running. Run, run, run, run, RUN AWAY! That’s all he ever did anymore and it sickened him. No, sickened wasn’t the right word._ _Terrified_ _is more appropriate. He didn’t want to get caught again. He didn’t want to go back into that cell. All he could do was run away. That was his safest bet. Run, hide, live another day, and repeat._

_There was a sudden tug at the Galvan’s leg and the next thing he saw was the concrete ground. Something had tripped him and he struggled to get back up on his feet. He had to keep running, had to keep moving. He couldn’t afford to stop now, but his legs betrayed him and stayed immobile. He could hear footsteps, as loud as the thunder that roared above him, coming closer and closer. No. No, it can’t end like this! He was so close to getting away! He couldn’t go back now, not back to that god awful cell! Albedo tried again to get up but his legs gave way again and he was back on the ground._

_This was it. He was trapped now. Trapped in a dirty alleyway, worn out and cut up from his falls, soaked and chilled to the bone, about to be caught once again and tossed into a prison cell. He could hear them getting closer. He could hear them laughing at him, laughing at his misfortune and misery. Albedo closed his eyes and curled up on the ground. Clenching his jaw tight and taking a deep breath, he did the only thing he really could do anymore._

_He screamed._

With a loud and terror filled scream, Albedo bolted up right and quickly scanned the room, hand hovering dangerously close to his Ultimatrix. His breathing was labored and uneven and he was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. He wasn’t outside, and this certainly wasn’t a Plumber jail cell. It took a few seconds before he remembered where he was exactly. This was Tennyson’s home, he was here because of his broken leg, he broke his leg in a fight with thugs. As Albedo mentally recalled everything that had happened to him in the past three weeks, a sudden and dreadful feeling began to form in his gut. It felt like there was a pit forming in his stomach and there was nothing Albedo could do to get rid of it. His vision began to blur and he felt warm tears begin to drip down his face.

“No. No no no no, I am not crying.” The Galvan tried to dry his eyes with the blanket, but they just wouldn’t stop. “Damnit, I am _not_ crying. I’m not crying. I’m not… I…” The more he tried to deny it the heavier the tears became. He felt his lower lip start to quiver and he let out the most pathetic sounding whine he’d ever heard before attempting to curl in on himself. This was pathetic, Albedo _never_ cried. He didn’t have any reason to cry at a time like this, at least that’s what he kept trying to tell himself. “What’s the point? Why am I even getting comfortable here?” He let out a little sob before reaching for a pillow and holding it close to himself. “Once this leg is healed it’s just back to my old way of life. What’s the point in letting my guard down like this? Why am I even letting myself think it’s okay to start acting like this? They don’t care what happens to me, all they care about is keeping an eye on me so I don’t try and escape…” The more he spoke to himself the more he seemed to break himself down. “Why fucking bother? You’re just fooling yourself anyway. What did you honestly expect when all of this happened? That you would be able to walk away freely? Fat chance of that happening. You’re a wanted criminal Albedo, you’ll never be free. Not of this planet, not of your crimes, and certainly not of this god damn body. Your own personal prison that you made for yourself.” Each word he spoke seemed to make things worse. Albedo’s body started to shake and soon he was unable to control anything anymore. Burying his face into the pillow he was clutching, he did his best to keep his sobs muffled. No reason to wake the other three occupants of the home.

As Albedo broke down on his bed, Ben stood silently outside the Galvan’s bedroom door. He’d heard everything. _Boy did I pick a night to stay up to watch Sumo Slammers. Should I go in there?_ As Ben listened to the other try and stifle his sobs he debated whether going in and asking what was up was a good thing to do. Would Albedo even tell him, or would stepping in now set back what little semblance of a friendship they had? Would the Galvan even understand that Ben would be trying to help? Or would he think the hero was making fun of him? _Well I can’t just walk away and pretend I never heard any of that._ With a deep breath and a nervous hand, Ben opened the bedroom door, and saw Albedo visibly freeze.

“Albedo? You okay?” He kept his voice low. Even if his parents were downstairs he still didn’t want to risk waking them up. When the Galvan didn’t answer, Ben stepped a little further into the room and continued. “I, uh, I heard you scream and, well… I kinda heard what you were saying.” Still no response. “Albedo are y–”

“Go away Tennyson.” Albedo didn’t look up, his voice being muffled by the pillow. He did not want Ben of all people to see him crying. It was bad enough the hero had heard him talking to himself, he wasn’t about to let him see this too. “I’m fine, so just leave me alone.” What was he saying? Fine? He was far from fine, but he was being stubborn like always, not wanting to admit the truth.

“Albedo even a blind man could see you’re not fine.” Probably not the best choice of words but Ben kept going. “You screamed bloody murder ten minutes ago and now you’re half curled in on yourself and crying. Just… if you think I’m gonna make fun of you I’m not. I came in here because I was worried.” At least he was being truthful, if not a little brash about it.

Albedo stayed still for another moment before looking over to Ben. It was a little difficult to see in the dark but he could clearly see that Ben was telling the truth about being worried. It was written all over the hero’s face, along with a bit of nervousness. Maybe he could tell him? _But the question is, do I have the courage to tell him?_ The Galvan shook his head and buried his face back into the pillow. “Just… go away Ben.”

“Albe–”

“Please.” He turned his head and looked to Ben with pleading eyes. “Just leave me alone. I don’t want to talk.” His voice was starting to shake again and he could feel his eyes starting to water once more.

Ben stood there for a moment, stunned by how different Albedo looked right now. This wasn’t the usual cocky and smug Albedo he’d know for so long, this was someone almost entirely different. Ben let out a little sigh and turned to leave. “Alright, I’m going.” _But don’t you dare think I’m just gonna let this go._ He kept that thought to himself as he left the room. Ben wasn’t one to just leave things alone like this. Albedo was going to talk. Maybe not him, but it’s not like they were alone in the house. _Mom will be able to help. She’s gotten him to talk about things before right? She’ll know what to do, she has to._ Ben went back into his room and laid down.

Even with how tired both boys were, it was impossible to get any sleep that night for either of them. So they both stayed awake, one because of his fears, the other out of worry.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I ALMOST FUCKING CRIED WRITING THIS BUT WHOOO FUCKING BOY WERE THESE LAST TWO CHAPTERS FUN TO WRITE! THIS STORY IS CHUGGING ALONG AT A WONDERFUL PACE AND I HOPE YOU ENJOY MORE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT FOR OUT FAVORITE TRASH LORD :D
> 
> Again, shout out to @ninatucker on tumblr for the idea for this chapter.
> 
> Leave comments if you can. Please and thank you <3

The next morning Ben was nothing less than tired. Between staying up to watch Sumo Slammers then staying up out of pure worry for Albedo it really did not make a good mix. As much as he just wanted to pass out as the sunshine slipped through his blinds, Ben has a job to do, and the required him to be awake and get his sorry ass downstairs to talk to his mother. Maybe if he was lucky he could take a nap later but right now he had more important things to do. Not even bothering to change out of his sleepwear, Ben quickly made his way downstairs, thankful to find his mother in the kitchen just before she started making breakfast.

Sandra looked over at the entryway to the kitchen when she heard footsteps and was surprised to see her son awake so early. “Morning Ben. You’re up early. Don’t tell me you forgot to get Albedo again?” She chuckled as she noticed Albedo wasn’t with him.

“No, I didn’t forget about him. I gotta talk to you though, without him around.”  _ Not that I think he’ll even want to leave his room today. _

Sandra stopped what she was doing and looked back at her son. “What happened?” The worried tone in her son’s voice made her anxious. She quickly took a seat at the kitchen table, breakfast temporarily forgotten. “Did something happen yesterday? Did I miss something while I was out?”

Ben sat next to his mom and let out a heavy sigh. “No, not while you were out. It happened last night. I was up late watching Sumo Slammers when I had to use the bathroom and when I was heading back to my room I heard Albedo scream. I think he had some kind of nightmare last night but he wouldn’t tell me. Mom… he looked really upset. He was  _ crying _ .” Ben turned to face his mother. “Mom I have no idea what to do, I want to find out what’s wrong but he won’t talk to me.” Ben paused and looked to the floor. “That’s why I was hoping if you could find out? You got him to talk about himself before, maybe you could get him to tell you what’s bothering him.”

Sandra was quiet for a moment, taking in what her son had just told her in stride. She had to think this over quickly. Ben seemed really worried about the Galvan, so whatever had happened must have been serious. “Okay, let me prepare a few things first, and I’ll go up and talk to him. I have a few ideas in mind that just might work.” She gave her son a soft smile and patted him on the head. “Thank you for letting me know Ben.”

Ben smiled and let out a small yawn. “Of course mom. Who else would I be able to tell? Gwen and Kevin?” The pair shared a laugh before Sandra got up and grabbed two mugs. “What are you gonna make?”

“Tea, oh and I hope you don’t mind but could you stay out of the room while I talk to him?” As much as she’d love to have Ben there with her to help out, she figured this kind of situation strictly required a ‘mother’s only’ touch.

“No problem. I don’t think he’d talk if I was there anyway. He’s still stubborn mom, that hasn’t changed at all.” Ben was just glad his mom was going to help. He knew she would but still, it felt relieving just KNOWING that she was about to go up there and help Albedo in a way he couldn’t just yet. Ben let out another yawn and laid his head down on the kitchen table. Maybe he could catch a little nap while he waited down here.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Albedo didn’t get back to sleep last night. He had stayed up out of fear, not wanting to have to go through another nightmare and risk waking the others up. As if staying up made things any better, as a matter of fact it felt like staying awake had just made things ever worse than when he first woke up screaming. Maybe he should have talked to Ben last night?  _ But would that have really made anything better? He’s my enemy. At least, I think he still is? _ Albedo let out a groan of frustration and leaned back against the headboard of his bed. “Why the fuck does this situation have to be so difficult to understand?” He was about to try and lay back down when he heard a knock on the door.

“Albedo? Are you awake?” Sandra stood outside the albino’s bedroom door, waiting for a reply. “Can I come in?” It took a minute, but she got her answer.

“Yeah, you can come in.” Albedo really didn’t want anyone else around right now but how could he say no to Sandra? He watched as she came into his room, a look of confusion crossing his face when he noticed the two steaming mugs she was holding.

“I made you some tea. I hope you like Earl Grey.” She handed one mug to her guest and smiled. The first thing she noticed about him was how red and puffy his eyes were. He must have been crying for some time after Ben had left. “Is it okay if I sit down?” When Albedo gave her a nod she sat down on the edge of the bed next to him. “How’s the tea?”

“It’s fine.” It was really good. The warm drink was actually helping his nerves calm down a bit. “Is there a reason you’re up here so early today? Was Ben called away again?” Albedo hoped he didn’t sound rude or snappy towards Sandra. She didn’t deserve that kind of treatment from him.

Sandra shook her head and took a sip of her tea. “No, but he did tell me what happened last night.” She noticed the other flinch and look away. “Albedo, is there something you want to talk about? You can tell me anything, you know.”

Albedo hesitated. What was he supposed to do? Does he tell her the truth, or does he try to brush her off like he did with Ben? Would that even work on Sandra? “I’m… I’m find Sandra. There’s nothing I want to talk about.” He stared down at his tea and inwardly screamed at himself for being so stubborn. Sandra was trying to help him, Ben of all people had tried to help him, so why on Earth was he being so damn stubborn with the truth?

Sandra just let out a small hum before taking another sip of her tea. “Have I ever mentioned I have a horrible fear of snakes?”

Albedo’s eyes snapped up. What? “No, you’ve never mentioned it.” Why was she bringing this up now?

“Well I do.” She laughed a bit before continuing. “I remember one time when Ben was three, he found a little garden snake out in the backyard and tried to show it to me. I screamed at the top of my lungs, scared the living daylights out of Ben and Carl, then nearly fainted right then and there. The thing is, I’ve never had any kind of traumatic experience with snakes. I’ve never been bitten by one, never been around any kind of dangerous or venomous snake, I rarely even see them at all. Even so, I’m still terrified of them, but since I admit that, everyone knows not to bring them up around me. When you admit that you’re afraid of something, it can open ways for the people around you to help you when you really need it. So I’m going to ask again, and take your time with answering, is something bothering you?”

Albedo sat there in silence, really thinking about what Sandra had just said. It made sense, really it did, but did it really apply to someone like him? He bit his lower lip and gripped the ceramic mug a little tighter. Sandra was right, he knew that. He knew he had to speak up and say something but just the thought of telling her made the pit in his stomach worse. He swallowed thickly before speaking in an almost hushed tone. “You won’t… think lowly of me if I tell you, right?”

Sandra shook her head. “Never in a million years.”

Albedo gave a small laugh. That’s right, he was told time and time again. Sandra wasn’t one to judge others like that. “Just checking I guess.” He paused and let out a sigh before leaning against Sandra’s side. When she didn’t show any signs of protest towards the action, Albedo continued. “I guess I just started to realize that, once my leg is healed, I won’t be able to stay here very long afterwards. I’ll just go back to running away again and trying to stay out of a jail cell. I realized that’s all I really can do anymore. Even with the Ultimatrix, Ben is still able to beat me in a fight. I can’t win against him no matter how hard I try and if I can’t win that just means it’s right back to prison. I don’t have anywhere to go anymore Sandra. I’m trapped.” He paused and took in a deep breath. “I think that’s what’s scaring me the most right now, being trapped to the point that my only option is to run away and hide and hope to whatever deity is listening that I don’t get caught. I don’t want to go back into that cell, I don’t want to keep running anymore, but I don’t have any other options. I’ve committed enough crimes to keep me locked away for the rest of my natural life.” He stopped again, keeping his gaze down at his cup of now cooling tea. “I actually like being here.” He added in a very quiet, almost whispered tone. Whether or not Sandra had heard him was a mystery since she gave no reaction. What she did do was place a hand on his head and gently ruffle his hair.

“Thank you for telling me Albedo. Now that you’ve gotten all that off your chest, how do you feel?”

The Galvan pulled away from her and wiped away the little tears that had begun to form. “Actually, a lot better.” He smiled and looked up at Sandra. “Thank you for listening.”

“Any time. Now, why don’t you try and get some sleep? You look awfully tired.”

Albedo chuckled and let out a long, drawn out yawn. He really was tired. “Yeah, sleep sounds pretty good.” He handed Sandra his half empty cup of tea and laid down. Now it didn’t seem so hard to fall asleep.

Albedo was out like a light within seconds of laying down and Sandra made sure to leave the room quietly. She made her way downstairs and back into the kitchen where Ben had fallen asleep at the table. “Ben, wake up honey.” She gently shook her son and almost instantly he bolted upright.

“Huh, what? I’m up! I’m up…” Ben groaned and laid his head back down on the table. “Mom? That you?” He turned his head and met his mother’s gaze. “How did it go?”

“He told me a lot, I’ll fill you in later though.”

He gave his mother a confused look and sat back up. “What’s up? You have that serious look on your face again. What are we doing?” ‘We’. He said that so easily now. Back in the beginning taking care of Albedo was just his mom’s idea, now Ben was fully on board with her.

“You keep doing what you’ve been doing Ben, Mama has to call in quite a few favors. And don’t tell your grandfather about this. I usually don’t like keeping secrets but right now Max still has a biased opinion on this whole situation. Think you can do that for me?”

Ben looked like he was stunned for a second but the devilish grin that cracked his face said otherwise. “Mom, as much as I hate to bring this up, I lied to you and Dad about the Omnitrix for months before you guys found out by accident. Consider my lips sealed.”

“That’s my boy. For once, I’m actually proud you’re a decent liar.” This little plan of Sandra’s was going to take time to prepare, and she had very limited time. But everyone who knows Sandra Tennyson personally, knows she doesn’t give up without a fight.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HELLO ALL I AM SO SORRY FOR THIS LONG WAIT BUT HERE IT IS! THE NEXT CHAPTER!
> 
> I gotta thank @ninatucker and @hisp2nic2non on tumblr for keeping me going and being really supportive even when I had no idea what I was gonna do. And! A really big thanks also to my sweetheart Anon fan on Tumblr as well who I know as Magickalkat15! Or MK15 for short :3 She's another one who kept my spirits up when I was really down.
> 
> ANYWAY! I hope yall enjoy this chapter because omg I rewrote this thing almost 9 different times just to get it right!

When Albedo woke up again the sun was just starting to dip down closer to the horizon. He’d been asleep for a lot longer than he had anticipated. Even so, he felt a whole hell of a lot better than before, even if his limbs were a little stiff from over resting. The anxiety from last night was still there, but after his talk with Sandra he didn’t feel like he was going to be sick from it anymore. With a nice stretch and a long, drawn out yawn, Albedo sat up in his bed and smiled to himself. He felt a little lucky. If Ben hadn’t heard him last night… he didn’t really want to think about how he would be feeling right now if that hadn’t happened.

“Speaking of which, where is everyone?” The house seemed rather quiet today. It was a weekend so Carl should be home and Albedo didn’t remember Sandra saying anything about going anywhere today. Maybe something came up while he was asleep? Before he could reach over to grab the house phone and attempt to intercom someone, the Galvan heard his bedroom door creak open.

Ben peaked his head in and nearly jumped when his eyes locked with his twin’s. “Oh, hey dude. I was uh, just coming in to check up on you. Mom was getting worried since you were asleep for so long.” Ben opened the door more and stood within the doorway, a little unsure if he was welcome in the room at the moment considering how Albedo has acted the night before. He didn’t want to overstep a boundary if the other still wasn’t feeling well.

Albedo just stared for a moment before nodding slightly. “Right. Well, I’m a lot better than I was before.” There was an awkward bout of silence between the two for a long minute, neither boy really knowing what to say to the other. “Uh, Ben, listen. I want to thank you… for telling Sandra.” Albedo paused for a moment before letting out a small sigh. “And… I’m sorry if I sounded harsh last night. I just didn’t really know what to do.” Albedo looked down and away from Ben as he spoke. It wasn’t exactly normal for him to apologize to anyone, let alone someone he  _ supposedly _ despised.

“It’s fine man, I get it. Since you’re feeling better I won’t hold it against you.” Ben chuckled. He was just glad his interference hadn’t set anything back between him and Albedo.  _ I knew telling mom was a good idea _ . “So, am I allowed to stay in here? Because my parents took over the TV downstairs and if I got back to my room alone I’m just gonna end up falling asleep.”

Albedo let out a laugh and shook his head. “Sure, why not. I would actually appreciate the company.” The Galvan repositioned himself so Ben could sit on the bed with him. “For once your meddling in other people’s business did some good.” He laughed a bit more when Ben gave him a half hearted glare.

“It’s not ‘meddling’ if the other person really needs help.” The hero gave a small pout before grabbing the TV remote from the nightstand beside the bed. “So how would you feel about a Sci-Fi marathon? Gwen said there was supposed to be an all night marathon of a really popular show today and since I’m gonna be spending the rest of the day in here…” Ben gave the other a curious sideways look, waiting for an answer from Albedo.

“You figured to actually ask if I’d liked to watch something instead of just putting it on like you normally would?” The Galvan smiled and shook his head. “Go for it. It’s late anyway so it’s probably the best we can do right now aside from going back to sleep.” Albedo was glad Ben wasn’t deterred from spending time with him after the night before. It was a little hard to admit to himself, but he honestly didn’t like being alone anymore. He liked having someone to talk to, he liked just having people around him. It felt so much better than just sitting alone thinking to yourself.  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~  
  


“No way Tennyson. I’m telling you that is literally impossible!” They were a good nine episodes into the Sci-Fi marathon and so far Albedo had pointed out so many mistakes that he was now  _ actively  _ looking for them in the show. Apparently Ben found this amusing. “There is absolutely no way they could make a functioning ship engine out of those materials! They would start breaking apart after only twenty minutes!”

Ben was holding in a fit of laughter. After the first wave of corrections during the first episode he had thought Albedo would want him to turn it off but to his surprise the Galvan had insisted they keep watching. At this point the so called ‘action’ show was being turned into a comedy, every time Albedo made a correction Ben couldn’t help but find it funny. The other took everything so seriously when it came to certain things. Science was very obviously one of them. “Albedo, dude, it’s just a TV show.”

“A very inaccurate one.” Albedo crossed his arms and let out a small huff of frustration. “Do people really not understand how any of this works? Half of these characters should be dead due to their lack of knowledge on how to properly build working equipment. You said Gwen recommended this show to you? How did she not find these blatant inaccuracies distracting?” Albedo watched the screen carefully as he spoke, keeping his eyes sharp for any more mistakes in this show. “Pass the popcorn please.”

“Here.” Ben handed over the bowl while he took a sip of his drink. He had gone down to the kitchen during a commercial break to get them some snacks. They hadn’t eaten much today considering they had been asleep for half of it. “Also, I’m pretty sure Gwen didn’t mind because she watches stuff like this for fun. You’re not supposed to take it this seriously, but I have to admit it is pretty funny seeing you get so worked up over it. Makes the show even better if you ask me.”

“Well, I didn’t ask you, but I’ll take that as a compliment.” The two shared a few laughs before turning their focus back to the show.  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  


“Hurry up Tennyson! You’re gonna miss it!” Albedo yelled from his spot on the bed. Ben had left to get more snacks and use the bathroom quickly during another short commercial break but the show had come back sooner than expected. The two were now on the fifth episode of the third season, each of them now thoroughly invested in the story’s plotline. Even Albedo had stopped criticising the show’s scientific inaccuracies to pay attention to what was going on. “Seriously Ben! Hurry!” Currently there was a very important fight scene going on and so far the main character was holding off an attack while her allies were attempting to stop a bomb from going off.

Ben came running through the doorway and practically jumped onto the bed next to Albedo, no snacks to be found. “What happened? Did I miss anything important? Please tell me Virana is okay?”

“She’s fine and you didn’t miss much but the others are still trying to defuse the bomb and it’s not going well. If they don’t defuse it in the next five minutes everyone is done for.” Virana, the main character, was currently being pinned to the floor by some wild beast the enemies had released onto her and Albedo was biting his nails in a panic. “If she loses this fight it’s all over. There’s no way the others can fend off an attack without her.”

“I know but if they don’t get the bomb situation under control it won’t matter!” Just as Ben had said that the shouts of Virana’s allies telling her the bomb was defused hit his ears. “Oh thank god! Now they can join in the fight!” Even as the episode started to draw to a close, things were still pretty intense. All the characters were on edge even as they escaped from the enemy’s sight and back out into space. “I can’t believe that actually worked. What’s the summary for the next episode.”

Albedo was already clicking the Info button on the remote before Ben even finished asking.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  


“YOU’VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!?” Ben and Albedo practically screamed in unison. It was the season six finale, and Virana’s main love interest just died before their eyes. It was literally the first ten minutes of the episode too, which made it even worse.

“How could they do that to Jenna! She was literally the only person in the whole show that fit with Virana perfectly!” Ben was beyond pissed at the outcome, and Albedo didn’t seem any happier.

“Not to mention the fact that Jenna was the only one competent enough to figure how to defeat the enemies for good! She literally just found out and now she’s dead! They didn’t even have her tell the others what she found out! What kind of utter bullshit is this?!” This had to be one of the most infuriating things ever for Albedo. This kind of plot twist was totally unnecessary for the show. “Who thought this was a good idea? Because it wasn’t. How dare they kill off the smartest character in the show!”

“How could they do this! And during the show’s finale!? I’m gonna murder Gwen for this why didn’t she warn me?!” Ben was just so done with it all. His second favorite character, gone just like that. “And we still have another forty-five minutes left in the episode.” He let out a loud groan of frustration. Why did they have to kill off Jenna now of all times? What was the point? The gang needed Jenna now more than ever and now she’s gone. “I swear if anyone else dies NOW of ALL times I’m shutting off the TV and we’re just gonna Google the ending.”

“Agreed.” Even Albedo sounded done. “If one more of them dies unnecessarily I’m tossing the remote through the TV screen. First it was Kano, then Terrence, and now Jenna.”

“At least Kano and Terrence died with a decent reason! They had heroic deaths that made sense! Jenna just got killed in a raid that could have easily been prevented! Better yet, it didn’t even have to happen!” Ben crossed his arms and grumbled a bit to himself. “Let’s just finish this and HOPE no one else dies.” Ben saw Albedo nod in agreement and a tense silence fell over the room.  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“That was the worse ending of a show I have EVER had to witness.” Albedo was about ready to explode from frustration. “Jenna didn’t die for this bullshit! Virana ends up with Gerard? Really?! When was it EVER mentioned she even liked him?!”

“I feel utterly betrayed. I feel like everything I know is a fucking lie. Whoever wrote that ending should be fired. I can not believe this.” Ben was just laying down next to Albedo with a pillow over his face as the final end credits of the show rolled on the screen. “Jenna didn’t deserve this kind of treatment. How could they do that to her?”

“I haven’t felt this inclined to murder someone in over a month.”

“Haven’t you been here for over a month?”

“Yes, and since being here I no longer feel the need to kill you in your sleep unless you start being extra annoying.” Albedo paused for a second before looking off to the side. “I would even go so far as to say that… I consider you somewhat as a friend now.” He mumbled the ‘friend’ part but it seems Ben still heard him clearly.

“Really?” Ben looked up at his twin with wide eyes. He didn’t expect that at all. Albedo really thought of him as a friend now?

“What? Is that a problem?”

“No! But, it’s just a little surprising. I mean, yeah you and me have been getting along but,” Ben sat up and rubbed the back of his neck. “I just never thought we’d get along this well. It’s actually really great to know you don’t hate me as much anymore.” Ben smiled and nudged Albedo’s shoulder. “You really have changed a lot Albedo.”

The Galvan smiled slightly and sighed. Yeah, he really has changed a lot hasn’t he? He was so vindictive before with a bad attitude and a shitty outlook on his life. He hated everything and everyone, including himself. Now though, everything seemed so much better. He’s calmed down a lot, he actually got to know Ben for once instead of just clinging to his old perspective of the hero, and Sandra has showed him that people really can care about others without having some kind of other motive for it. “Being here was probably a good thing then.”

“Well, yeah. I guess. I mean, if you didn’t stay here it was either you were still in the streets or in your cell back at plumber base. Honestly though, if either of those options had happened you’d still be like your old self.” Ben looked down at the cast on Albedo’s leg, chuckling a bit at the ‘Ben 10 was x’ signature he’d left there when the cast was first put on. “I’m pretty glad you got this chance to change Albedo.”

The Galvan looked at Ben with a shocked expression, but that shock changed quickly to a feeling of happiness. “Yeah, so am I Ben.” He paused before giving Ben a small nudge with his shoulder. “Thanks for giving me a chance. It really means a lot.”

Ben just laughed and ruffled Albedo’s hair. “No problem.” The two joked around with each other for a bit before a low grumble came from both of their stomachs. “Well, guess it’s time for breakfast. What time is it anyway?” Ben looked over at the clock on the nightstand and his jaw dropped. “Oh my God.”

“What? What time is it?” Albedo leaned forward and looked at the time. It was 8:30 in the morning. They had been up all night watching that marathon. “Oh.” Was all he managed to say.

“Well, guess we should just go down and see if Mom’s making breakfast yet am I right?” Ben joked.

Albedo scoffed before nodding with a smile.  _ I really have changed a lot, but that’s not really such a bad thing anymore. _

_ Thanks Ben. _


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I can't even apologize for how long I took on this because I was just being plain fucking lazy I am so sorry guys BUT HOLY FUCK LOOK AN UPDATE! AND I'M SUPER FUCKING PROUD OF THIS ONE! Don't think the story is over just yet because we still have a few more things to go!
> 
> Leave a comment if you can and thank you all for being so patient with me!

“Dude, you look like you’re about to bite through your fingers. Calm down.” Ben watched as Albedo chewed on his nails while sitting on the edge of the bed. Today was supposed to be the day he would be switching his cast for a boot, but the albino looked far less than happy about it. “Are you gonna be okay?”

“No! I’m not going to be okay! The only reason I got to stay here was because I couldn’t walk. Now that I’m getting a boot I’ll be able to move around more and that means I’ll be hauled off back to my cell!” Now, that was just an assumption but Albedo wasn’t going to let himself have high hopes. “Your grandfather never wanted me here, he’s been against Sandra letting me stay here from the start. What’s going to stop him from taking me back to Plumber Base and throwing me back in my old cell?” The Galvan was a nervous wreck and for once he wasn’t trying to hide it. He didn’t know what to do at this point, and that terrified him.

“Albedo calm down. Things have changed a lot since then and so have you. I’m sure I can get Grandpa Max to let you stay out of your cell so long as I keep an eye on you.”  _ But I really hope that plan of Mom’s is ready by now. We’re almost out of time.  _ Ben had found out that his grandfather didn’t just intend to put Albedo back in his old cell, the whole Plumber Base wanted Albedo shipped to an off planet maximum security prison. They only had until the end of today to convince Max to let Albedo stay with them. Of course, the Galvan had no clue about any of this. Ben didn’t have the heart to tell him and now he was a little glad he didn’t. Albedo was a literal wreck right now just from the possibility of being put back in his cell here on Earth, Ben didn’t even want to think how the other would react to the possibility of being shipped to an off world prison.

“I highly doubt that Ben. As much as I truly want to believe you there’s no way your grandfather will let me stay here after today. The ONLY way I can possibly think of is if he gets some kind of order from the Magistrata herself that I am to stay here under your watch.” Albedo sighed and ran a hand through his hair. There was no way today was going to end well. He had a very bad, and very sickening gut feeling about it.

“Come on dude, have at least a little faith will ya? It’s gonna be-” Before Ben could finish, the door to Albedo’s bedroom opened. The doctor was finally here.  _ Oh boy, here we go.  _ “Hey Beth. Nice to see it’s you this time around.”

Beth smiled and nodded to the young Tennyson. “Nice to see you two again as well. Sorry about missing that last appointment, family emergency.” Beth was the ‘official’ Plumber doctor assigned to watch over Albedo’s recovery. At first she had honestly dreaded having to take this job. Considering she’s heard nothing but horrid things about the Galvan it was no surprise to anyone that she wouldn’t want to be anywhere near the wanted criminal. But, as time went on she came to realize what Ben and his mother had realized. Albedo just needed a chance to change himself. “So Albedo, you ready to finally get rid of this cast?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be considering once it’s off I’m just going to be hauled off back to a cell.”

Beth sighed and shook her head. “Come on now, no need to be like that. You never know how things will turn out. You’re not a psychic Albedo, you can’t predict the future, no matter how smart you are.” The Galvan just huffed at her and looked away. The boy just didn’t seem convinced things would turn out fine. “Alright, let’s get this over with then. Just remember to stay still and try not to squirm too much.” She saw the other nod and with that, she got to work.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Never in her life did Sandra Tennyson have to make so many calls in just a single week before now. If everything goes well this would be her final call of the day. She hoped this plan of hers really worked because she was getting very tired of jumping through hoops and filling out paperwork. “The things I do for this family I swear, but it’s all worth it in the end.”

Sandra sat at a desk in the lower levels of Bellwood’s Plumber Base with a slow flashing, holographic screen in front of her. She was waiting patiently for the person on the other end to accept the call and each passing second made her just a bit more anxious. She didn’t really have a lot of time left for waiting but at this point she had no control over how fast things could get done. It was all up the Plumbers at this point. While the seconds ticked on she thought back on everything she had to pull off this week. The countless hours of paperwork that made her hand cramp and her fingers sore. The mind numbing phone calls that just made her want to scream into the receiver as she was told the same things over and over again but in slightly different way than the last time. The looks of pity and confusion Plumbers would give her when she told them exactly what she was there to do. Everything she had gone through led up to this moment, the last thing she had to do before she could go home with a sense of pride, the final ring she had to jump through. And dear Lord did she pray she would make it to the other side.

“Mrs. Tennyson?”

The slightly electronic sounding voice made her jump, and she realized that there was finally someone on the other end of the screen. “Yes, that would be me.”

“The Magistrata will speak with you now.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“And we are finished.” Beth smiled and stood up, stretching out her back and sighing with relief when she felt a small series of ‘pops’. “How’s it feel Albedo? The boot fit okay?”

Albedo looked down at the clunky looking boot on his leg. It looked almost as bad as the cast did on him, but at least he could bend his leg again. “Feels fine Beth, thanks.” He sounded less than enthusiastic, and he had every right to.  _ It won’t be long now. I’ll be saying hello to my old cell soon enough. _ The albino decided to try standing up on his own for the first time since he’d gotten his cast. It didn’t hurt really, but that didn’t mean it was completely painless. It felt like a dull throb that was more annoying than painful, but it was definitely something he could handle.

“Well, if that’s all good my job here is done.” Beth stated as she packed up her things. She would’ve stayed longer, but she had strict orders to leave once she had finished with Albedo’s boot and allow the Plumbers Officers waiting outside the Tennyson household to take the Galvan to the prison transport ship. Beth hauled her bag over her shoulder and smiled at the two boys in front of her. “You two take care okay? Don’t got hurtin’ that leg of yours anymore Albedo, ya hear me?” Albedo just sat back down on the bed, as if he didn’t even hear her. Beth stopped and stared at the boy sitting before her. Barely over a month ago this kid was considered a highly dangerous and cunning criminal, now he just looked lost and defeated. With a heavy sigh, Beth put her bag down again and placed a hand on Albedo’s shoulder to get his attention. “Listen, I know you think things are just gonna end up going back to the way things were, but you have some of the most stubborn people on your side right now trying to help you.”

“Hey!”

“Shush Ben, you know it’s true.” Beth gave a little laugh as Ben crossed his arms in defiance. “Albedo, you may not see it, or maybe you do, but you have certainly changed over the time you’ve spent here. Trust me when I say this, you have some good people looking out for you right now, and I bet you they’re willing to do a lot to make sure you get your chance at making a better life for yourself.” She smiled and stood up again. “Just keep your head up okay?” Grabbing her bag off the floor again, Beth turned to leave. She just barely heard Albedo whisper a thank you as she made her way out the door. If she could, she’d tell the Officers waiting outside the house to just leave and go home, but orders were orders.

****

Albedo sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the floor as Beth left the room. “Thank you.” His voice was barely above a whisper, and he wasn’t even sure the doctor had heard him at all, but he could hope she did.  _ It won’t be long now, but at least I had fun right? At least… at least I got to know some really good people.  _ “Hey Ben?”

Hearing his name suddenly made the hero jump slightly in surprise. “Yeah?”

“Thanks for everything. For giving me a chance, for showing me that you really aren’t that bad… for letting me stay here when I never deserved it in the first place.” Albedo could feel himself starting to tear up, but he held back. “You really are selfless sometimes, and I’m kinda glad I got to be able to call you a friend for a little bit.” He heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs.  _ Looks like they’re here. _ “Seriously, thank you… for everything.”

Ben was speechless. He didn’t know what to say to the other.  _ Come on mom! Where are you?! We could really use you right about now!  _ Ben heard the heavy footsteps coming up the stairs and he knew that time was up. Unless a miracle happened, Albedo was about to be sent away for good. “It’s the least I could’ve done. Besides, I had to do something while you were here, and fighting verbally just didn’t seem fun.”

Albedo let out a dry laugh.  _ There he goes, trying to lighten the mood. _ “Yeah, I guess.” Just as those words left his lips, the bedroom door opened once again. This time though, it wasn’t a face Albedo wanted to see. Max Tennyson and two Plumber Officers stood in front of the open doorway. Max had a blank look, while the two officers looked more than happy to be in the room right now.

“Albedo-”

“Save your breath Magister, I know what you’re here to do.” Albedo stood up and turned to face Ben. He hesitated for a moment, before taking off his Ultimatrix and handing it to the hero. “Take it, I won’t be needing it anyway.” The Galvan smiled weakly to his twin, before turning back and facing the Plumbers before him. “Go ahead, I won’t be resisting this time around.” The two officers moved around Max and stood on either side of Albedo, pulling out cuffs while the other read him his rights. Not that he really needed to hear them again, he knew his rights by heart at this point. Just before he felt the cold clasp of metal on his wrists, he heard footsteps coming in fast from down the hall.

“Hold it right there!”

All eyes focused on a very tired and very disheveled looking Sandra Tennyson, Ben nearly jumping for joy when his mother showed up.

“Sandra you can’t be here right now, we-”

“You’re not doing anything Dad, because by order of the Magistrata, I, Sandra Tennyson, am now the legal guardian and overseer of Albedo’s safety and well being.” She stated while holding out a document with an official seal from the  Magistrata.

“What?!” Was the chorus of responses to Sandra’s sudden statement, all eyes focused on the paper.

“Hold on, what does that mean?” Albedo looked to Ben, confusion clear on his face.

“It means-”

“That we can’t touch you unless Sandra gives us permission or gives up her right as your legal overseer.” Max cut off Ben and motioned for the two officers to step back away from the albino. Max let out a heavy sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. How his daughter in law managed to pull this off he may never know, but he had to admit it was a good tactic. “Alright boys, let’s go. We have other things to do than just stand around here all day.” Max turned to face Albedo, who still had a look of shock and confusion clear on his face. “Looks like you just got a second chance Albedo.”

Even as the Plumbers left the room, Albedo still stood in shock staring at the door. What just happened? Was he still in reality? Was this still real? His mind was swimming with questions and without realizing it he was holding the document Sandra had burst in with. Looking at the seal he knew, this was real. The paper he was holding was real. Sandra had gone to the Magistrata herself, and somehow convinced her that she was fit to watch over a wanted criminal. “How… how did…” He could barely get his voice to work as he struggled to find the right  words.

“Well, I had to pull a lot of strings, but I’ve also been sworn to never reveal my sources. A woman’s gotta have some secrets every now and again.” Sandra smiled and carefully took the paper back from the Galvan. “So long as I have this, you are staying right here in this household.”

Ben nudged his twin and handed back the Ultimatrix. “I believe this belongs to you dude.”

Albedo was speechless. This was really happening, this really just  _ happened _ . This whole time, thinking he was going to be sent back to prison, only to be met with this outcome. His felt his hands tighten around the Ultimatrix as they began to shake. Sandra had once again gone through so much trouble, just for him, just so he could stay here. She did all of this, just so he didn’t have to be alone again. With heavy tears forming in his eyes, Albedo moved forward and pulled both Sandra and Ben into a tight hug.

Albedo didn’t say anything, and both Tennyson’s understood why. They knew his voice wasn’t going to work right now, but they got the message. Loud and clear.

_ Thank you so much. _


End file.
